


Zehdh: Some kind of love

by Rykeral



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marrige- Kind of, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, Forced marriage- kind of, Non-traditional marriage, Political Marriage, Torture, Violence, angst with happy ending, much angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 23:51:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 69,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13134780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rykeral/pseuds/Rykeral
Summary: In order to save Supergirl from certain death Lena Luthor does the unthinkable. She agrees to marry her.... and with their union shoulders the consequences. Their relationship evolves and they learn that sometimes love can be found in the most unlikely of places and that it transcends everything... even death.Supercorp Marriage AU. Canon Divergence post Daxamite Invasion.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally gonna post this as part of the SC Week but the one I joined was cancled due to lack of participants... I didn't realise there was another one until very recently. Oops. Oh well. You get this anyway. :D Merry Christmas! <3
> 
>  
> 
> Quick shout-out to by Beta AerinAced! Thanks babe! Mwah!
> 
> Prologue is Epilogue? Um, it is in the future and the rest of the fic is present day.

A crack of lightning lit the sky in a great whitish-blue hue, electric and forked as it clutched at the sky. A black van roared through the streets, windshield wipers waving frantically and dimly lit head-lights catching drops of rain. There were six men inside, talking loudly over the drumming of the rain. Two in black clothing with bandanas around their face, sunglasses, and their hoods up were in the front seat. The driver had gloved hands on the wheel while the front-passenger tapped away at the glowing white screen of his device.

“Make a right in a hundred meters, then take the third left,” he instructed and the driver obeyed, cranking the wheel and almost lifting the van off all four wheels.

“Jesus! Careful!” He protested and shook his head. In the back there was a thump against the metal and a voice yelling.

“Oi.”

“Yeah! All right,” snarled the driver and ducked his head to try and peer through the rain at the sky around them.

“Do you think we lost her?” He asked as he made a hard left turn and the tires screeched on the concrete.

The passenger shook his head uncertain. “Well _maybe_ if you stopped driving like we just robbed a jewellery store then maybe we wouldn’t draw attention to ourselves!” He shook his head in disgust and checked the weapon in his lap. Satisfied he turned in his seat as the driver peered cautiously out into the night and rapped on the back window.

“We all set?” He demanded and there was a moment before a muffled response.

“Yeah! Good to go!”

He turned back to the front when the driver swore. “Fuck! Supergirl!”

An answering cacophony of curses echoed his observation and the passenger clicked the safety off his firearm and let the window down. Almost immediately the wind of the cold night roared into the cab, tearing at their clothes and dragging cold drops of rain to lash at their exposed flesh.

In the back the double doors had been opened and were now bouncing back and forth in the wind, waving like a banner at the furious hero that was on their tail. She emerged from the night, darting under lampposts as she caught up to them, a blur of red and blue. The four thieves in the back had tossed aside their black bags and had instead drawn weapons. One settled a grenade launcher over his shoulder and braced against the side of the van.

“Hold her steady!” He bellowed and took a knee, eyeing the hero in his sights before pulling the trigger. Smoke plumed behind him as a missile erupted from the tip of the barrel and roared towards the hero. Unwilling to let it go and hit the buildings behind her, she collided with it and fell to the ground. The impact left a crater in the ground and shook the road before she leant up on her arms and watched them continue to flee.

The men cheered and clapped each other on the back, but soon the hero was back up and angry. She shot after them and the air grew heavy and thick with the tension like that of a mouse aware of the slanted pair of eyes tracking its every move.

“Get the other gun!” Shouted one of the men and the others proceeded to open fire on her as one ducked down behind them. The man with the grenade launcher fired again, if only to distract the hero and divert her attention from them and to the missile.

The ‘other gun’ was a thick silver mashup of what looked like a round magazine on the side with some sort of giant nozzle along the top. It was ungainly and looked as though someone had soldered two or three pieces of technology together to form a frankensteinish weapon. Still, the barrel flared purple for a moment and then a beam of purple light was shooting through the sky like the lights in a club, trying to find the Superhero.

She dodged it at first, but as she kept on tailing them, unable to get over them without risking colliding with the purple beam. She made a mistake, ducking to the sidewalk to protect a civilian from fire, and she was struck. She was thrown backward into the building, leaving a great hole like something out of a movie. Dust rose from the hole and little bits of rubble were scattered around the impact gap. They waited with baited breath for long moments as they drove away, and peered through the rain to see if a pair of hands would clutch at the brick, or if a cape would catch on the rubble as the hero sped her way free, but there was nothing.

Cheering in success the men settled back in their van and wrenched the doors shut. Back on schedule and unpursued they returned to sorting the jewellery they had just stolen. They’d been planning the heist for months; sorting out the guard rotations, working out security cameras, preparing their team. Their bosses had even given them enough tech to keep National City’s darling off their backs. The gun was a worthy investment and they would tell their boss how successful it was. Supergirl hadn’t reappeared.

The rain was starting to ease up as they drove through the city and headed for the docks and it was then that they heard it. A howl. It echoed like thunder and fear dragged icy fingers down their napes, raising the fine hairs on their body. It roared through the night, echoing and growling and growing like the rumble of Zeus’ rage.

“Shit,” voiced one of the men from behind a bandana and swallowed his fear. It caught in his throat on the way down, heavy and thick.

The thud of hooves accompanied a gap in the howling, the steady and purposeful clip and clop of shod hooves on stone.

Another one swore while they glanced to each other in fear. Out the windows, the windshield and the small ones in the back of the van, the night was silent and dark. And then the rain _froze_. Each drop of it caught and suspended in time. It was something like a movie; lightning flashed and with it a silhouette was outlined; a horseman rearing against the sky with a weapon pointed to the moon.

“Go, go, go!” One of them shouted and wrenched the back door open, tumbling out into the night and colliding with the wet tarmac before stumbling to his feet and bolting. His companions were hot on his heels, dragging the bags with them regardless of what fell out and what gems they left behind. One stayed in the van, gun clutched tightly to his chest and peering out nervously into the night as his companions abandoned him. The two doors swung a little from the momentum, but remained open, leaving him with the image of his comrades running through suspended bits of rain and into the darkness.

The hooves started again and echoed around them like the applause in an amphitheatre and they scattered like ants in the rain as the actual rain fell back to the earth. It left little ripples in the already formed puddles and they screeched to a halt and gripped their guns tighter and peered through the rain, ignoring it as it trickled down their skin.

Thunder rumbled and there was a crack and one of the men was dragged off his feet and pulled into the night. His shout was abruptly cut off and the silence was deafening. The rain continued to fall and the dull headlights from the van called out to them.

Hearts thumping they called out to each other, wondering where the others were and then tried to run back to the relative safety of the van. They didn’t make it. One by one each of them was grabbed by something unseen and dragged into the night, fingers grasping at the concrete as though it could be their salvation.

The final thief, the one in the van with trembling fingers turning white on his firearm, was the youngest, and the most replaceable. He was along for the grunt work, to be disposed of later. It was fitting that he be the final one standing and he straightened, even as his blood froze, as a shadow emerged from the night.

The rain had halted again, forming a bubble in the air above them and he could see it colliding with an invisible shield and rolling down the sides of it like a dome. It was like magic. He lifted his head skyward in awe when he felt eyes on him.

Looking in front of him he flinched and tumbled back into the shelter of the van, colliding with the hard and cool metal floor. In front of him was the horse and rider. The horse shifted restlessly and then slowly clomped its way towards him, little bolts of lightning striking the ground and sending ripples of white across the puddles.

It was an imposing beast, tall and round but strong, he could see its strength and confidence in the way it stood. It was black, as dark as the night around them, with lightning in its eyes- literally. It looked like it was made from the very storm thundering around them. Sparks danced on the tarmac with its foot falls and there were soft rumbles like thunder with each foot-step. The mane and tail were black and white, as though the very skies and stars had been caught in its hair and the rest of its body looked like it held the shape of the clouds in its form, even as it moved restlessly.

Gapping the thief lifted his eyes further and knew who he was meeting.

“Andraste,” he whispered in breathless awe and the woman slung herself off of her horses back. She landed gently on the tarmac and little splashes lifted from her boots. She lifted a gloved hand and the storm horse pressed its forehead into her palm before vanishing and the goddess herself was left before him.

Andraste was wearing a hooded cloak that hung around her shoulders and fell to the concrete with a silkiness he suspected only water would have, or the skies, if he could reach out and touch it on a cloudless night. It was the colour of night, a reflection of the stars themselves but sharper, and didn’t seem like she was trying too hard. It was subtle, but when you looked you could see entire galaxies within the fabric, if it _was_ fabric and _not_ the cosmos. Which, was an actual possibility. Her powers were unknown and some had suspected her of divine origins.

Her torso clothing was black with silver runes stitched into it, and it looked like it was something out of a fantasy or medieval movie for some great lady, or even for a queen, and hugged the curves of her body with ease and he swallowed. Eyes lowering, in fear or respect, he followed the folds of her clothing down over the tops of her thighs where it was like a half skirt along the outsides, and down her legs, where she was wearing tight leather. Her boots were leather too; knee high and with buckles in them up the sides. They were also about four inches high with a flat heel and he kept an eye on the toe of them as they bore her closer.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, croaking it out and would have been embarrassed by how his voice had cracked if he weren’t so scared.

“I know,” she answered calmly and lifted her gloved hands to pull her hood down. She was wearing a mask; black with silver runes etched into it. He could see the pale skin of her face beneath it, but couldn’t make out much apart from the ruby red of her lips and her silver eyes. Just like the stories said.

“I-I didn’t mean it,” he stammered and she lifted a hand to halt his rambling and he recoiled instinctively. The gun in his hands turned to dust and he stared at it blankly as it fell from his fingers and settled in little grains, like black sand, in a pile in front of him. He hadn’t even remembered he had held it, but he knew that had he lifted it on the woman in front of him he would have been sent to hospital before a jail cell. Such was her reputation.

Andraste had appeared a few years ago, just after the Daxamite Invasion, and was known for only stepping in when Supergirl was being given the run around. The animosity between the two was well documented though neither would speak of the other to the press with anything but respect. And it was due. Though Supergirl was National City’s hero, the unknown entity called Andraste was a respected member of the community; even if she left petty crimes and minor grievances to her caped frenemy.

She had first been seen when, after the invasion, a series of Daxamite weapon involved crime had swept the city, and Supergirl had struggled to handle the weaponry. She hadn’t been injured, but it had been a struggle for her to go up against so many of the weapons, especially at the same time. Andraste however had no qualms about it, walking through the fire-fight disintegrating the guns and bending the bullets around her like she was some kind of Darth Vader, if she didn’t halt them around her immediately. It had been terrifying and awe inspiring in turn, and only fools tried to fight her.

They didn’t know if she were alien or human, or indeed, the Goddess she had been named after, but one thing was clear; she had little time for criminals. She didn’t care for robberies, or car chases, or even for cats stuck in trees (and was heard calling Supergirl America’s pin-up Girl Scout), but if she did show up then you knew it was for something serious. She appeared for forest fires and floods, and shoot-outs, and you didn’t want to be a kidnapper or hostage taker while she was around. She had even placed human traffickers in the very container they used to traffic their victims and tossed it around for the better part of an hour before Supergirl convinced her to put it down. Some people had thought the act was unbecoming for someone with apparently limitless power and no one to answer to, but others had praised her actions; it was poetic justice.

Her relationship with the hero was…strained… as Supergirl prided herself on her accordance to a code, and Andraste didn’t appear to have one, or at least not one so ‘good’ as the two Supers. She was known for her violent streak, especially when apprehending criminals, and while fair, would go where-ever she pleased when-ever she pleased. She had no fear, and unknown but magical powers. So far she had been documented walking through walls, flying, stopping bullets, lifting immense weights, and even control of the elements was credited to her. Supergirl couldn’t compete with her, or at least was unwilling to do so, and instead the two would engage in witty verbal battles, often leaving the Super as red as her cape. Andraste was a terrible flirt, but only seemed to enjoy toying with the hero.

She lifted her hand and beckoned him from the van and he hesitantly obeyed, knowing it would be detrimental for him to disobey. His sneakers squeaked as he shuffled nervously and he could feel the metal bumper against the back of his legs.

“What-what are-?” He trailed off and the woman tilted her head to the side.

“Why am I here?” She enquired and he could detect the hint of an accent to her perfectly articulated words. He gave a frantic nod. Normally she wouldn’t show up, not unless there were lives at stake, or she happened to be in the area. (One of National City’s gossip rags had speculated she held an important role within the city as she was often not present for much of the city’s crime, and when questioned had said, quite clearly, that she was far too busy for the petty problems of the cities populace. Of course that had caused a slight uproar-not that she seemed to care).

“Supergirl,” she said simply and he blinked. They had left the hero back in that building, the new alien/human weapon obviously affecting her as she hadn’t continued her pursuit of them.

“She’s mine,” Andraste leant forward, voice lowering dangerously and he strained to catch her words. “You let the world know it.”

And then he was dangling in the air, unable to bite back his yelp of surprise and his eyes widened as he was slammed into the back of the now closed doors of the van. The metal warped and melted, screaming, as it formed bands around his wrists and ankles and tucked him snugly to the wet, cold surface. He squirmed frantically and tried to pull away but the metal bit into his skin warningly and he turned his attention forward again as the rain came tumbling down.

Andraste was gone.

~*~

‘…And in other news National City’s power couple Lena Luthor and wife Kara Luthor were spotted out at a restaurant. A source tells us they were holding hands and laughing and touching each other all night. The couple have been inseparable since their wedding earlier in the year and according to sources are still very much in love. Don’t we just love these two?’ Grace Lyod asked her co-star Blair Pierce and he nodded in agreement as a photo of Lena and Kara appeared on the screens behind them.

‘Absolutely! And speaking of love, frenemies Andraste and Supergirl were seen having words at National City’s Christmas Gala. According to our sources Andraste was, again, insulting Supergirl; everything from her hair to her costume choice, though our hero gave her own back until Andraste changed her own outfit…. As you can see Supergirl didn’t have much to say to that. And, really, neither can I. Grace?’

The image changed to a grainy photograph of Andraste’s outfit change. The woman was wearing a sheer black lace dress and her typical delicate mask while her dark hair fell wild down her shoulders. Her creamy skin was visible beneath the patterns and while revealing, it kept enough concealed to imply sexuality while leaving no doubt as to her sensuality. The runes curled around her lower body and kept her figure sharp and then laced their way across the top of her breasts. It was a head-turning look, and Supergirl was gapping at her in the image, while the smug curling of ruby lips was obvious.

‘Phew,’ Grace waved her hand at her face. ‘I’ll say! That woman is a Goddess, pun intended, and she knows it! I really, really need to know her workout routine!’

The two hosts laughed and then Grace faced the camera. ‘Coming up we have an interview with National City’s power couple to celebrate their one- year anniversary and we ask them how they keep the magic alive.’

‘That’s right! Kara tells us how she romances her wife. So don’t go anywhere. We’ll be right back after the break!.’ The images behind them changed to a photo of Lena and Kara with their foreheads pressed to each other and gentle, peaceful smiles on their lips. It panned backwards to show they were both in white, Kara in suit and Lena a dress, standing on a beach in the sunset. Written in delicate font were the words, ‘ _Zehdh_ : _Some kind of love._ ’

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

The new CADMUS base was a refurbished warehouse in the South Business District of the city. It saw enough traffic and cars going into buildings at all hours that their movements weren’t out of the ordinary, even before the Daxamite invasion. The city was still in recovery mode, the populace shell-shocked over what had happened and clearing the debris away. Some parts had already started to be rebuilt- those with enough money and power to get the crews to their property, while others were still homeless and jobless. Discontent ran through the city with neighbours turning on neighbours for their resources and jealously guarding their own. The people of National City had returned to their more savage ways, even as public figures and authorities tried to maintain the peace and reassure the people.

The military had mobilised, the rest of the country, and indeed the world, had sent aid; resources and manpower to help the city. Slowly and surely it got back to normal; order was restored and people opened their homes to the homeless. Still, it had been a rough few weeks since the initial attack had began, and the anti-alien sentiment rolling rampant through the city was a wonderful outcome for CADMUS. People were already agreeing with their viewpoints, wondering if maybe the group was right. It was a nice change. Even though Supergirl and her team of alien loving fools tried to placate them; there were still alien-hate crimes popping up all over the city- even if some of the invaders had stood with their earthling hosts to repel the Daxamites.

All in all, while the loss of human life and infrastructure was dreadful, the anti-alien sentiments worked to CADMUS’s advantage. But they had to be swift. Supergirl and her allies were using everything at their disposal, even bringing in Superman himself, to assist with the rebuild and calming the people’s fears. Seeing both symbols of hope still supporting aliens was soothing ruffled feathers, but CADMUS had plans to get rid of the two beacons. Permanently.

They had discovered the ancient text, ancient by Kryptonian standards, when Hank Henshaw had broken into Superman’s fortress of solitude. One of the data files he had managed to retrieve spoke of a ritual to end blood feuds; a ritual that would be the end of the other House. A ritual that would kill the Super’s.

It was remarkably easy. All that was required was the blood of both houses, and then an incantation. It was almost laughable at how easy it was. According to their translations the Super’s would soon start to weaken and eventually they would die, because the only cure _was_ death. It was brilliant. How the two Super’s hadn’t defended against this outcome they didn’t know, but seeing as it required blood they probably thought they were home free- or it was so far in their history that it wasn’t important, which was more likely. The text had only been a few paragraphs and an incantation (of which they were unable to translate but that didn’t matter) and they had almost missed it, if not for Lillian’s obsession with detail they would have.  It was like Christmas had come early. A way to permanently end the two Supers and it was even more poetic than using the Medusa Virus; as this was Kryptonian to kill Kryptonian.

They didn’t have access to Superman’s blood, and a full out attack on either Super while the other Super was in town was suicide; they could take on one, but not both. But fortunately Lillian wasn’t one to waste things, (apart from her daughters potential but you didn’t bring that up around her) and had a little bit of Kara Zor-El’s blood left over. It had been in storage for the past few months, just waiting to be called into use. And the most amazing thing about it was that if you placed it in the sunlight it would regenerate, becoming as fresh and full of life as the moment it had been taken from the Super. The DEO and the Super herself had screwed up on that end, anything that CADMUS took from the Superhero should have been retrieved and destroyed because of what they could do with it.

Still, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and CADMUS had plans for Kara Zor-El’s blood.

~*~

“Argh!” Kara Zor-El shouted out her pain and rage as she stormed into the room that held her mothers AI Database. At her presence the system booted and the reflection of her mother materialised in the centre of the room as Kara started to pace around it.

At first she just strode furiously around the slowly turning image of her mother, wild, barely contained energy like that of a lion stalking around the perimeter of its cage. The blank, unseeing eyes of her faux mother followed her movement and didn’t register as she began to mutter to herself.

It had been a week since the Daxamite fleet had come to Earth and she still felt the loss deep within her, and she ached for those who had been lost; citizens, aliens, even Mon El. The city was still recovering, with her and Kal’s help, and they had been out with M’Ghann and her fellow White Martian’s helping clear the rubble and to generally just show the people of National City that they were not alone. It was slow going; much of the cities infrastructure had been purposely targeted and a lot of it was still damaged and out of commission. Many lives had been lost, and the loss to buildings and property would total the hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars worth in damage. Still, their people, her people, were showing their true colours, showing their strength.

Support, man-power, supplies, resources, and donations were pouring in from all over the country, and the world. Humanity standing as one. It made the anti-alien protests and negativity flying around bearable. Aliens and humans alike had stood against the attack. She was going around interviewing people, inquiring their experiences, while not in her uniform, to spread the message of hope and support. A lot of the alien community had come forward during the attack and had defended their human neighbours, often at great risk to themselves, and she loved giving voice to those people and their stories. It made for a softer, fluffier piece next to all the reports of the missing, dead, and the predicted totals of damage.

The DEO was working around the clock to retrieve the bodies of any aliens; Daxamite and friendly, as well as their weapons, but a lot of the corpses had been looted before they could get there, and they were quietly concerned about Daxamite weaponry on the streets. But Kara had bigger problems to deal with. She was working herself around the clock to clear roads so that demolition crews could get to buildings and supplies could get to those who needed it; she’d even spent the better part of the first few days looking for the wounded, and more often than not, got to people a bit too late. It was killing her; but she couldn’t stop. People could still be alive underneath the rubble, could still be praying for help, and she couldn’t let them down. She and Kal had taken parts of the city, searching it in a grid-formation for people while the rest of their friends helped with the clean-up.

Cat Grant had quietly assumed her throne and was a solid presence among the chaos; vocal in her support of those that had stood with them, and urging everyone to look within themselves for their own strength and hope, and to help their neighbours. James had been going out as Guardian (thankful that he didn’t have to try to run CATCO anymore-and Kara had some thoughts on how _that_ conversation with Cat had gone) and urging people to not steal from their neighbours and communities in these tough times. Alex and Maggie, and the DEO and NCPD were running themselves to the ground to contain the crime and to offer support to their people.

She hadn’t heard from Lena Luthor in a few days, but rumours were that the CEO had already heavily donated to various charities and was even hosting the homeless in various hotels and motels around the city. She’d even privately commissioned supplies from across the country and would have them flown in as soon as the aeroplane was full.

It broke her heart that Lena had been betrayed by Rhea. She was just another on the long, long list of people who had inevitably betrayed the youngest Luthor, and another scar for her to carry. Lena had just been trying to help, like she always did, and she had been taken advantage of. Her kind and sweet and beautiful heart had been violated and Kara hated Rhea all the more for it.

She and Kal flew people to hospital, reunited family members, and even went looking for missing pets, anything to bring a little bit of hope and happiness in this difficult time. She’d barely had time to think of her own suffering, so concerned as she was with trying to help everyone else. But now she had a moment to herself, ordered to rest by both Alex, J’onn and even Cat-pointedly making a comment about how Supergirl would be useless if she ran herself to the ground. So instead of being out there helping she was in the DEO and wasting her already drained energy reserves on pacing around the room.

She had been far too busy to think of Mon El, or had purposely kept herself so busy to avoid thinking of him, and now that she had a moments time to herself her exhaustion brought all of her emotions to the surface.

He had been…. A safe option. A secure option. He, like she, understood the loss of a planet and the struggles with adapting to a new one, not that he had tried very hard with that! And he was someone she could speak her language to, even if he preferred his own tongue and his accent was terrible in her own. She could be with him and be herself and not have to worry so much about her strength. She didn’t have to worry about losing him either, because he was stronger than humans, and his only weakness was lead, and he would have reduced aging like she did. She would have a companion, someone who understood her, even after Alex was gone. Even after her friends’ children had gone. She would have him, at least, even with all his issues. But now she never would and the thought of being alone again, sometime soon, filled her with near paralysing terror. Kal didn’t count. For all he called himself alien, and other humans did, he had a human heart and he could never understand what it was truly like.

 She let out a little cry of frustration and came to a halt in front of the stand that her mother stood on and slumped down against it.

“What troubles you, Kara Zor El?” Hearing her mother’s voice, robotic as it was, asking her what was wrong caused the hole in her chest to tear open a little more and she choked a sob.

She knew the AI couldn’t do anything for her, and was probably not programed to do so, but maybe venting to someone would be good, especially as they couldn’t judge her or respond. Sometimes it was nice having someone to listen.

“Mon El,” she rasped out and slumped down against the stair, leaning against it and looking up and through her mother. “He had to leave Earth.”

“What troubles you, Kara Zor El?” Her mother enquired again and she frowned at her.

“I thought I could finally be happy,” she said after a moments thought, realising that the hologram hadn’t heard anything that it could perceive as being wrong. “I thought that finally, finally I had someone who would stand with me and could understand what it was like to be me. To be alone on an entire planet. Kal doesn’t understand,” she said and wrapped her arms around her knees and curled into the stair the best she was able. “He’s too…..human. He doesn’t remember the sunset of Argos, or the music, or the stories. He doesn’t-he can’t-I thought Mon El,” she cut herself off as the tickle in her throat expanded until she could barely breathe.

“Is there no mate for you on Earth?” Alura’s voice asked after a long moment of her silent tears and Kara sniffed and peered through her watery eyes at the image of her mother.

“Huh?”

“What are your desires?” Alura asked again, the image of her mother flickering as the AI whirled in the background.

“What?” Kara blinked, turning from the pain in her chest to the curious puzzle her mother was offering.

“Earth has a population of approximately four billion potential mates. If you could narrow the search criteria to ones you would find desirable, the potential matches will decrease and you will be able-“

“What?” Kara blinked, finally understanding what her mother was getting at, “No!” She shook her head. “I’m not looking for a mate,” she said aghast, and had she been standing she probably would have stamped her foot. As it was she could feel how tight her brows had gone.

“You expressed a desire for companionship-” Alura began and Kara interrupted her again.

“No! I mean, yes,” she said quickly and then lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I want someone. I think,” she hesitated and tried to put what she was feeling into words. “I think everyone wants someone. I want someone to understand me, or to try to at least, and I want to, you know, do stuff with them and-“

“Physical pleasures were deemed-“

“What?! No! Mum!” Kara groaned in protest. ‘That wasn’t what I meant! What I meant _was_ ,” she emphasised, “is that I want someone to go places with, to experience new things with. I want to grow old with them. Learn about them and about myself with them. I want to share _me_ with them. All of me.”

The gravity of her situation was not lost on her and she fell silent and sighed, lowering her chin onto her arms and closed her eyes. Winn and James were off doing their Guardian thing, even if she didn’t agree, Cat was planning on leaving again (back to the mountains), Alex had Maggie, and it seemed like she was fated to be alone. With Mon El gone she no longer had someone she wouldn’t be able to hurt with her strength, and someone who she had thought understood the loss of a planet and culture, but that had been a lie as well.

And it wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in another alien, she would be if she liked them enough, but Kryptonian’s` were…well, traditional in that sense. Mates were chosen by the Codex, and approved by the Head of House, and Matches were designed to ensure compatibility and to promote the future of their people. Personal pleasure and desires didn’t factor into a Union. Your Mate would do their best to honour you and your House (unless their House was the greater, in that case you would honour theirs) and care for you and any offspring, but there was no feeling involved, or at least rarely. Unions were designed to strengthen alliances between Houses, to make their people strong, to make Krypton strong. Dissent was unheard of. It simply wasn’t done.

Physical companionship, if not found with the Mate, which was common as only the DNA and union of the Houses was required for the Match and at best your Mate would be a friend and confidante, was found outside of Match. She was fairly certain, upon reflection, that her own parents had taken lovers outside of their Match, and while they had learnt to care for each other, and for her of course, they were not in love. _Shovuh_.

What Kal’s parents had though, that was _Zhao_ ; love of the romantic kind. It was what she wanted for herself; especially when she came to Earth- she wanted a Soul-Mate, as the humans liked to call them. Someone with whom she would have a unique connection, and she wanted to be in love with them, and them to be in love with her.

“What are the traits you desire?” Alura’s AI asked in an attempt to be more relatable and she appreciated its effort but the only thing it would be able to do is listen.

Still. The pressure in her chest had eased and she smiled, a little sadly, at the hologram of her mother. “What most people want,” she said and gave a little shrug.

“Someone who…. Understands me. I…,’ she hesitated and gave it a moments thought. What did she want from a potential partner? Her thoughts strayed to the people she’d liked in the past. It wasn’t a very big list to be honest. James. Adam, sort of. The list of people who liked her though, that was bigger.

“I want someone who is strong,” she said slowly, working it out in her mind. “But not just physically, but in character.” She thought of James again. “I want them to be willing to stick up for what is right, even when everything is telling them not to. I want them to be supportive of me, and understand how important helping people, being Supergirl, is to me. I don’t need them to protect me, but the thought is nice. I want an equal in that, or as close as I can get,” she added a little self-deprecatingly.

“Then I guess, being brave comes under that as well. Not in the ‘run into danger way,’” she said and shook her head in thought of what Winn and James had been doing at night. “But in the ‘I know the risks but this is the right thing to do and I will do it even if the world is against me’ way. Not in a stupid, get themselves hurt unnecessarily way.” And she wasn’t letting out her frustration over her friends nightly activities out, she wasn’t. She just didn’t like to see them get hurt and they were so fragile and they didn’t need to go out and help people, they were helping _her_ help people, they could be heroes without going out and beating people up, looking for trouble. “I guess I want someone who is brave only when they have to be.”

She lifted her head and gazed past her mother’s image as she thought some more. “I guess I need them to be smart, or I’d like them to be. I hate having to hide how smart I am- or, how behind human technology is but it’s not even that. I want to be able to hold a conversation with them.”

She thought about Winn, and about how he had thought she was interested in her. “I want someone who can make me laugh… I- there’s a lot of pain and suffering in my life and I just want to be able to come home and have someone make me forget about it,” she waved her hands around in the air.

“And they have to be kind and caring,” she said, thinking of all the people she had ever liked. She didn’t think she could even be around someone who was selfish and cruel, especially to animals or customer service workers. That was an unneeded injustice. “And, if they don’t donate their money or time to charity, at least they could tip the best that they can, or they smile and thank people.”

She was quiet a moment, the program housing her mothers A.I. flickering slightly. “I guess I just want an equal,” Kara confessed quietly and sighed, the sound loud to her own ears.

“You have no equal, Kara Zor-El,” the hologram said, and she could almost feel her mother’s pride in it, but it was only wishful thinking. “You are singular.”

“Thanks mum,” she smiled sadly as she rose to her feet. “See ya later,” she glanced back in time to see the lights housing the A.I. dim and felt a faint ache in her chest that reminded her that everyone would leave her eventually.

As she left the room and the doors shut behind her she wondered if she could drag Alex away from the clean-up, she needed her sister right now. She never saw the box that contained the A.I. program flicker back into life, never saw the series of lights it sent out, and she certainly never saw the lights on her Pod flash in response, or the way the computer it was connected to froze for a brief moment before launching a hidden background application. And the DEO certainly never noticed an algorithm piggybacking their servers and going out into the world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! May the best of this year be the worst of the next, and of course, may you achieve all of your resolutions! I believe in ya! :D
> 
> How do we all feel about weekly Sunday updates? *Shrugs* we'll see how that goes. :D
> 
> What do you all think? ;D
> 
> Thanks for Beta-ing Tammy! <3


	3. Chapter 3

_(a few weeks later)_

Kara sighed as she floated down to land outside the bank. “Hey guys. Can we like, make this quick?” She enquired of the thugs inside in the middle of robbing the place. “The latest episode of Kitchen Nightmare’s came out and I don’t wanna-“ She was cut off abruptly when one of the thugs turned and fired an increasingly familiar weapon at her. She was able to duck away from it with ease and then placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest pointedly. “Hey!”

“That wasn’t very nice!” She growled, feeling her exhaustion deep in her bones and she fired off several rounds of her laser vision at the weapons pointed at her. She was tired. It had been just under a month since the Daxamite Invasion and she felt like she had been going non-stop; flying here, there and everywhere as she tried her best to serve her city. Kal had only recently returned to Metropolis, concerned that his presence in National City had been noted and the criminals in his own city were plotting. Kara also privately thought that he was missing Lois.

Life had been….difficult…. for the survivors of the attack. They had been faced with the mammoth task of clean-up and rebuilding. Though the rest of the country and world had sent aid, it would be years before the city was as it had been before the Invasion. Kara was running herself ragged, as both Supergirl and cub reporter Kara Danvers. As Supergirl she had been doing all the things the city expected from their hero, but as Kara Danvers she had been searching for people, trying to unite families. She was doing her best to dam the anti-alien rhetoric that was flying through the city and country after the attack. She was writing puff piece after puff piece, talking to aliens who had come to earth to be safe, to have a better life. She was talking to humans who had been surprised to find the origins of their neighbours but thankful for their aid in the fight. She had even done an entire segment on M’Ghann and her companions which wasn’t subtle in its hints about how all beings that called Earth home and defended it had a right to live there without persecution.

Still. Now that Supergirl, her agency, and their alien friends had helped restore power and water and gotten much of the infrastructure back up and running with the help of the NCDC, people were torn over the subject. Clearly not all aliens were bad but the bad ones…. They had caused a lot of damage, and people were beginning to listen to CADMUS’s xenophobic rhetoric.  Oddly the organisation had been eerily quiet silence the invasion, and the DEO was very worried about what they were planning, but had been stretching their resources to help the city.

Exhausted as she was, a hero’s work never stopped. Though many of the Daxamites still left-abandoned to die- on earth had been captured and were contained in cells(and enduring conditions and treatments she didn’t want to think about) many of their weapons had gone missing from their corpses and were slowly popping up all over the city in crime related activities. It was only logical. Why use a human gun when the alien guns were far more powerful and could easily manage to get through human defences? It had caused the NCPD, DEO and even the military a bit of a headache. The military either wanted the weapons for themselves or didn’t want their enemies to have them, maybe, honestly, both. NCPD just wanted the bodies and gun related injuries and crime to stop, and the DEO wanted the guns off the streets and into their custody. Supergirl just wanted to go home and sleep.

“Look,” she sighed as she appraised the thugs trying to rob the bank and tried to listen for any sign of the police so she didn’t have to fly the thieves across the city. “I get it. Everybody’s tired. Everybody’s struggling. But we can’t take from our neighbours like this,” she said as she lifted her hands up as she tried to explain. “We can’t take from our people. I have better things to do,” she said rather shortly, “and so does NCPD. They are needed elsewhere, and you would all be better off with your families.” The men looked around and she could see them hesitate before the man who was obviously the leader lifted his daxamite gun and fired at her.

It hit her in the chest and she stared down at it a moment and gaped. The fabric of her suit had shrivelled slightly and burnt where the bullet had hit her and she felt her mouth drop open. It had hurt. Hurt like someone had punched her in the chest. Not enough to knock her back or anything, but enough for her to _feel_ it.

What in the? She thought to herself and then sprung into action, forcing her exhausted body to move. Her vision burnt behind her eyes and she fired it at the guns, exploding them in her anger. J’onn would be disappointed but if they were destroyed then there was no chance of them ever being used on anyone ever again.

The other thieves opened fire and she heard the whining of the NCPD sirens as they got closer and wondered what they had been doing that made them so late. Usually they were fairly close behind when the alarm went off, so they must have been delayed.

She noticed her exhaustion in her speed, strength, and reflexes and made a mental note to go straight home and sleep it off, even if the city needed her. She wouldn’t be much use if she blew out her powers, and she had been on the verge of that for weeks now. It felt like no matter how much time in the sun she had it was never enough. She was constantly exhausted and felt drained. If it wasn’t for Alex checking on her and making sure she spent time under the sun lamps then she would have wondered if she wasn’t actually sick. She thought she felt the way humans said they felt when they were sick. Alex was an absolute bear on the days she was sick.

She made quick work of them, once she kick-started her body into movement, and smiled tiredly at the police officers when they arrived. She didn’t stick around for an exchange of pleasantries, she just took off into the air at Alex’s instruction.

“I’m on my way, Alex,” she tapped her earpiece and soared above the city, mentally noting the damage and rebuilding that had been done since the attack. They were getting there.

The wind dragged at her and her body felt heavy as she made her way to the DEO and she landed with a less than graceful stumble. Alex was already waiting for her, looking worried, and there was something about her heart-beat that made her pause.

“Alex?”

Her sisters face was pinched and pale and she glanced over to J’onn only to see him lift his gaze to meet her eyes before returning to his work. Slightly hurt and suspicious in turn she looked back at Alex.

“I want to run some tests,” Alex said instantly without an explanation and Kara felt her eyes narrow.

“Why?” She enquired slowly, suspicion colouring her tone. She had to strain her senses to hear it, but she caught Alex’s heart stutter and felt a heavy and thick curling of dread form in her stomach.

“I’m not sure yet,” Alex said and shook her head, holding a DEO issued tablet close to her. “That’s what I want to figure out.”

“Okay….”Kara drawled out suspiciously but she trusted Alex had her best interests at heart and would take care of her.

“I stopped a bank robbery,” she said as she followed Alex through the many corridors to the med bay.

Alex nodded as she swiped through some results on her tablet. “I heard,” she said absently and Kara felt her brows tighten.

Alex always watched her when she was Supergirl, when she was out on a mission, and her protectiveness had only increased after the Daxamite Invasion and what had almost happened. So for Alex to have been more concerned with something else other than watching her and supervising her mission, it had to be important. And if it concerned her, which it did as Kara had seen Supergirl’s name on the file before Alex had averted it from her eyes, then it must have been….big.  She wasn’t ready to call it being bad, but Alex had been taking her blood every day for the past week and a half, and she would probably want to take it again. She said there was no reason for it; just that she had a …feeling…. And had yet to find anything, but Alex followed her instincts, so she was looking for….something…

Kara didn’t know what it was. She was just tired, depleting her solar stores and not resting enough to get them back to full charge. That was why she was getting exhausted quicker as the days went by. Nothing was wrong.

Alex took her blood, just like she had for the past ten days, and when she was done Kara’s skin healed immediately. “I want you to spend the night under the lamps,” Alex said as she handed off the small vial to another doctor and her features were pinched in concern.

Kara rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, Alex,” she protested and showed her sister her arm where there was only a smear of blood to show the Kryptonite needle that had just pierced her skin. “See?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed in her patented sister glare, a look that Kara swore she had copied from Eliza though she would never tell her that.

“I’m just tired, Alex,” she said and looked at her sister earnestly. “Sleeping in my own bed will make me feel better.”

Alex didn’t appear convinced so she tried to negotiate. “Five hours.”

“Three,” Alex said stiffly in a tone that offered no argument and Kara huffed but nodded. She didn’t want to push Alex too far, because Alex would win, but she really wanted to sleep in her own bed. Her pillow was calling her name.

“J’onn will handle your duties tonight,” Alex said as she escorted her to the sunbed and made sure she was stripped down into her recovery suit. It was a dreadful piece of fabric, covering as little of her as possible in an attempt to get the light into her body as fast as possible, but it was scratchy and rough and she didn’t like lying there basically naked.

Kara didn’t complain as a yawn overtook her and she settled in to her sunbed the best she was able, smiling sleepily at Alex as she handed her a small cushion for her head.

“I’ll see you in three hours,” Alex said fondly and Kara blinked owlishly at her as she snuggled into the warmth surrounding her.

“Mh hm,” she hummed and closed her eyes, tilting her chin into the heat above her. “See you soon,” she mumbled and Alex brushed some hair away from her face before stepping back and lowering the lid.

“Sweet dreams, Kara,” Alex told her and Kara didn’t hear her walking away, she was already asleep.

 

~*~

“.. the fuck do you mean, J’onn?”

Kara was dimly aware of the voices around her and felt her eyes flicker open. She squinted a moment at the warm lights of the sunbed and turned her face away as she tried to wake up.

Her body hurt all over and she sighed as she realised her fight with Henshaw had done more damage than she had initially thought.

The deep, powerful and reassuring tones of J’onn Jonzz did nothing to calm Alex down and Kara felt adrenaline firing in her veins and roused her sluggish body. If Alex was yelling then it wasn’t good.

“How did this happen?”

J’onn’s steady voice faltered for a moment as he spat out one word. “CADMUS.”

Kara heard Alex’s growl in her chest and fought the vestiges of sleep and let her hand emerge from the sunbed in order to lift it up.

She had responded to a disturbance down at the docks (why was it always the docks or abandoned warehouses?) and had gotten into a fight, if the way her body hurt was anything to go by. But she couldn’t quite remember what had happened. She had been tired, sure, and Hank had escaped, but she had been fine when she returned home. She had been cleared by Alex to go home and sleep it off, and she had happily done so. Very happily. Alex was still taking her blood and had yet to find what she was looking for, and Kara had pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she had been far too busy to focus on nothing.

“Kara!”

A few moments later and the bed was upright and she was peering into her sisters relieved face.

“Alex?” She enquired as she slung her legs around. She glanced between her sister and the director, noting the vein in J’onn’s forehead straining and the thick cords of Alex’s neck.

“Alex,” she repeated again, noting how Alex was pale and the vein in her neck was pounding.

Alex just rushed her and held her. “We’ll fix this, Kara. I promise,” she vowed and squeezed her as hard as she could with her human strength.

“Fix what, Alex?” Kara demanded, feeling a thick coating of dread lining her stomach. Alex’s faint heartrate accelerated but when she pulled back to cup Kara’s cheeks her eyes were fierce and strong.

“We will find a way,” she promised choosing not to answer Kara’s question. J’onn’s features twitched and she glanced over Alex’s shoulder to raise a brow at him, hoping he would tell her what was going on.

“Supergirl,” he rumbled. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Kara felt her brow crease, the tell-tale crinkle no doubt appearing like Alex, and Lena, said it did when she was stressed. “Um, I don’t know…” she hedged and frowned in thought. Flashes of memory came back to her. Henshaw. A fight. His oddly mocking remarks about her still being alive. The feeling of dread intensified.

“I was fighting Henshaw,” she said cautiously, glancing between Alex and J’onn to make sure that what she was saying was accurate.

J’onn nodded and folded his arms, his presence commanding even though he wasn’t trying to appear so. Alex ran her fingers through her hair and Kara noted it looked like she’d been doing it for a long time.

“I um, I solar flared?” She asked, trying to fill in the blanks. She remembered being unusually exhausted after the fight but was sure she had gone home to sleep it off, and not needed the DEO lamps. Alex had checked her over and sent her home. She was just tired. But she had been able to fly home, so surely she hadn’t solar flared. What was going on? It was like her body wasn’t even her body.

J’onn sighed and unfolded his arms and Kara looked at him concerned as his head turned towards Alex and she knew he was reading her mind. She felt a moments flash of concern for her sisters rights but shook that off. J’onn was a good man and wouldn’t do it unless necessary. And maybe Alex had been the one to mentally shout at him. She was more concerned with being kept in the dark.

“Alex,” she pleaded as she glanced at her sister, pulling her best impression of puppy-dog eyes. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

“You’re becoming human, Supergirl,” the director said and his words rang in the room with the roar of a hurricane, even though he had barely raised his voice.

Kara blinked. “I’m-“ she faltered and blinked again. “I’m what?”

Alex glared at J’onn and shook her head while he shrugged.

“That’s why you’ve been draining your powers faster than usual,” Alex began to explain, stepping back and holding up a tablet with a bunch of charts on it that Kara couldn’t understand.

She blinked again and tried to comprehend just what it was that J’onn had said.

“I’m…”

“Becoming human,” J’onn finished with her and she took a moment to let the gravity of that statement settle in. It was so…foreign… that she took a moment before trying to focus her hearing on the bowels of the building. Normally Winn would be at his desk, either gaming it or working, but she couldn’t hear him.

Her heart rate accelerated as she realised that she could barely hear the heartbeats of J’onn and Alex and she shuddered.

“Wha-what? How?” Her demand was breathless, filled with disbelief and impending loss.

Alex and J’onn shared a look and Alex took Kara’s hand.

“From what we could gather,” Alex began slowly, measuring each word before she spoke it, “CADMUS managed to find a ritual in Superman’s files that would end blood feuds.”

Kara felt a shiver crawl its way up her spine. She had never heard of such a thing and said so.

J’onn nodded in agreement. “It was from Krypton’s Dark Ages, back before their revolution. It is likely something you weren’t taught in school.”

Kara filed that information away for later, hoping to halt her impending panic attack with more information.

“What did they do? How did they do it?” She asked quietly, suddenly feeling very small and Alex sat down next to her on the sun bed and slung an arm over her shoulders.

“Blood,” J’onn explained as he folded his frame into a small metal seat nearby. Usually Alex used it for when Kara was badly hurt and she wanted to stay and watch over her, and it was odd to see such a large, imposing man, sitting in such a tiny chair. “Your blood.”

Kara felt her blood run cold and the thick, smothering feeling in her belly tried to force its way up and into her chest, compressing it and making it hard to breathe.

Alex’s hand was warm and comforting on her back as she rubbed it and she leant into the embrace to try and ground herself.

“I-I,” She couldn’t find the words for what she wanted to say and didn’t even know where to start.

How had they gotten her blood? What was the ritual? Why did it make her human? Why was it taking so long? Was there a way to reverse it?

“From what we have been able to translate so far,” Alex said and Kara pressed her head under her sister’s chin, trying to make herself smaller as her mortality sunk in, “its only because you are on Earth that the process is taking so long.”

“Long?” Kara choked out through the emotion in her chest.

Alex pressed a kiss to the top of her head while she trembled in her arms. “Yes. Its been taking weeks. Accelerated by your use of your powers.” Some part of Kara felt victorious in that. She had suspected that it was because she was using her powers so much that the recharge wasn’t lasting as long, and she was partially right, but she didn’t enjoy it.

“We believe,” J’onn said, voice grave and rough like thunder, “that your Kryptonian biology on Earth is what has halted the…I guess you could call it a curse?” His brow furrowed and he looked abruptly stern. “Disease?” He shook his head and continued. “But eventually it is designed to take your life.”

Kara swallowed and didn’t need to see it to know the glare Alex was likely shooting J’onn. But she appreciated the honesty.

“Okay,” she took a deep, steading breath, comforted in the fact that Alex still smelt the same. “So what do we do?”

“With Superman’s help we have started the translation of the text, and have tried to retrieve any known references to it.” He glanced at the watch on his hand. “It should be done shortly.”

Kara made to stand and Alex moved with her. “I want to read it,” she stated and J’onn nodded.

“As soon as Agent Danvers has taken you through your tests.”

Kara stiffened and her eyes narrowed.

“What? No,” she protested hotly. She wanted to know what it was now! If this thing that Cadmus had done was turning her human with the goal of eventually killing her then she wanted to know, and she wanted to know now! She had been getting weaker for weeks, on and off, so to finally have a reason for it was a relief. Now she wanted to know how to fix it.

“You’re almost completely human,” J’onn interrupted in his tone that offered no argument and Kara clicked her jaw shut. Alex stiffened reflexively at the voice of her commander but her touch was gentle and her eyes were soft as she told Kara that she needed to get her shots and other vaccinations before the entirety of Earth’s virus’ and bacteria hit her at once. Hopefully if her calculations were correct, Kara’s body would have built up enough of a defence by the time she was completely drained of her solar stores.

“But won’t I be dead shortly after that?” Kara didn’t like to voice that. Her mortality had never been so….. close before. Sure she had nearly died on earth, but that was different. That was in a fight. This was…. This was her own blood, something that was hers and was meant to be in her and keep her safe, was killing her… somehow. It was…. Humanising…

Alex’s hand tightened on her shoulder and her sisters comfort gave her a boost of strength. “We won’t,” she said strongly, “let that happen. We will find out a way to fix this and get you back. I promise.”

It was hard to believe that she had once resented Alex, or not resented, but just wished she wasn’t forced to spend time with her. Annoyed that the one person who had been assigned to her didn’t want to spend time with her when she was so alone and in need of someone. Alex was her rock. Her safety. Alex made her feel safe and strong and worthy. And not for the first time since learning what Alex had sacrificed for her, she was immeasurably thankful that Clark had…left (not abandoned) her with the Danvers. Alex was her sister. Love bound them. And she could believe it would be okay if Alex told her it was. If Alex told her she was going to save her she had no doubt that Alex would, or would die trying. She had proven that already.

“I love you,” she said as she wrapped her arms around her sister and squeezed her gently, applying pressure as she realised that Alex was holding her back just as tightly and for a brief moment she was thankful she didn’t have her powers. She was hardly ever able to hug her sister, or anyone, like this and it was…. Beyond words.

“I love you too,” Alex said and her exhale was shaky, and Kara strained to pick up on her heartbeat. It fluctuated in and out of her hearing.

J’onn turned his head and nodded to himself before rising from the chair.

“Agent Danvers,” he commanded and Alex pulled away immediately, turning from her sister into the agent. “Take care of Supergirl and when she is done, bring her to the command centre.”

Alex nodded while Kara gave an exaggerated sigh. He nodded to them both and then he was gone, the door shutting behind him.

Kara turned to Alex and Alex shook her head. “No. Tests and medicine first,” she instructed, knowing exactly what Kara was going to try and pull.

Kara felt a pout pull at her lips but gave a little nod, resigned to her fate. Spying her phone on the table she moved to pick it up and turned it on.

“How long was I out?”  She asked as it flickered to life, chiming happily. Her phone was actually well charged, and she suspected it had something to do with Alex. A thought suddenly came to her and she spun on Alex with her phone in her hand.

“What about-“

“Catco believes you are finally taking some well-deserved leave. Cat Grant approved it immediately- it was one of her final acts before she left,” Alex cut her off, perhaps assuming her question, but it wasn’t the one on her mind.

“Um okay, but I was gonna ask about Lena,” Kara said and quickly typed in her password. “We were going to get lunch,” then she frowned as she saw the date. “But I guess I missed it.”

She had a list of missed messages and a few missed calls, one from Cat, a few from Winn, and about seven from Lena and she smiled as she saw them.

“I told her you finally cracked about Mon El and needed some space,” Alex shrugged unapologetically as Kara gaped at her. “I had to tell her something,” Alex went on and there was a shrewd gleam to her dark eyes. “She wasn’t taking no for an answer and I didn’t want her looking for you on her own.”

Kara’s shoulders dropped. “I…guess that makes sense.” She was quiet a moment as she checked her text messages from Lena. They were mostly gentle texts asking after her well-being, but then agreeing to give her some space but making sure that Kara knew she was here for her if she needed it.

She took a moment to respond to Lena, letting her know that she was okay and that she just needed some time, and that would she like to get lunch or breakfast or something with her soon. She ended her text with a few of her usual emoji’s and slid her phone into her pocket. After she had gotten home from her fight with Hank she had showered, gotten dressed into casual clothing and then… well, obviously she must have crashed on her bed or something, because she was still wearing those clothes; soft grey sweat-pants and an old NC University shirt.

“Okay,” she said as she walked towards the door. “Lets get this over with,” she said with the tone of someone who was going to their death rather than just to get some tests done. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t like needles. They sucked.

Alex just laughed and promised her a lollypop. It almost made the needles and poking and prodding worth it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, DUN!! ;)  
> Thanks to my Beta-TV! Mwah!


	4. Chapter 4

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

The entire room was silent with Superman’s admission, and for the National City headquarters for the DEO, that was saying something.

“I’m sorry,” Alex Danvers began, blinking back her disbelief before leaning forward. “What?”

“It’s a Marriage Union,” Kal El repeated and shared a grimace with her. Supergirl, in civilian clothes, was just sitting in one of the chairs with a blank expression on her face.

The Director of the DEO had his arms folded and his brow was stern as he took in the information they had just been given.

“I ran the translation by Kalex,” Superman explained. “And it is a very ancient ritual designed to unite two feuding Houses and was only done when they were at risk of destroying each other.”

“Like Romeo and Juliet?” Winn asked from his chair, eyes wide.

Superman nodded. “It is an arranged marriage but to keep the Houses alive, rather than to promote the prosperity of Krypton.”

Slowly noise was returning to the DEO.

“Are you sure it was that one?” Alex asked almost desperately and Superman nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry. There were no other rituals that involved blood and meant inevitable death. In the rough translation, using the modern dialect, I came to the same conclusion CADMUS did. That if using Supergirl’s blood,” he nodded at his still frozen cousin, “and performing the ritual, they would commit her to death.”

“Only,” J’onn rumbled slowly. Supergirl was still staring blankly, her eyes glazed and mouth partially open. “The text was written in High Krypitch rather than Kryptonese and some of the words have been repurposed.”

Superman nodded in agreement. “I have a translation for you here,” he said and offered a piece of paper to J’onn. “It is no wonder CADMUS mistranslated. It is very complex.”

 Alex took it instead and read it over, murmuring the words to herself.

“So….” Winn waited until he had Superman’s attention. “It’s killing Supergirl because?”

Superman’s normally blankly arrogant features twisted a moment before he chanced a pained glance at his cousin. “I believe that CADMUS went through with the ritual…completely,” he emphasised and the strength to his shoulders dipped as he sighed. “They thought they were using her blood to kill her when they were actually getting married?” His voice rose to a little squeak and he winced.

“You say that like a question,” Alex said, finally lifting her eyes from the paper now that she had read the words. “What, _exactly_ , did they do?”

“They used Supergirl’s blood, and the blood of another, to tie their houses together,” J’onn said with a raspy sigh. “She’s dying because her House hasn’t fulfilled their side of the agreement, I think?”

“Who’s blood?” Kara’s voice was cold and cutting as she demanded an answer and her eyes slowly lifted to lock on to her cousins.

He hesitated and she repeated herself, steel entering her tone.

Kal’s answer was a long moment coming. “Whos do you think?”

“Lillian would never,” Alex said suddenly knowing that the xenophobe would never unite her blood with a Super’s, even if it would mean the death of the Super.

“Hank wouldn’t either,” J’onn said, certain of it.

There was a moments silence broken by Winn. “So who’s did they use?”

“Lex’s,” Supergirl said in an emotionless tone, looking at her wrist with blank curiosity. Her odd tone was passed over as shock and they continued talking.

Alex was quick to carry on the train of thought. “That makes sense,” she said swiftly. “They couldn’t get a hold of Superman’s blood but they had Supergirl’s from when they broke into the Fortress.”

There were nods of agreement all around. “And because the feud started with Lex and Superman it makes sense to use his blood to complete the ritual. I bet she thought it was fitting,” Alex finished, eyes flashing with rage and her lips curled into a snarl. “Using her sons blood to kill Supergirl.”

“But she didn’t know it would marry them,” Winn pointed out.

“From what I can gather,” J’onn said, pulling away from his dual translations. “CADMUS thought the ritual would end one of the warring Houses, only the translation basically means to unite them instead,” he added nodding in Superman’s direction for his confirmation of the translation.  “But,” he added, glancing over at Supergirl suddenly with narrowed eyes. “Superman is already married, and they used Supergirl’s blood, and as well as her being older, it that makes her the candidate here.”

“Sooooo CADMUS basically hitched Supergirl and Lex?” Winn tried to make sure that he had his facts right, his features contorting in disgust. “And its killing her because somehow her side of the ritual wasn’t completed? How do we fix it? Divorce?”

“Yes, they did,” Kara said blankly and lifted up her arm and everybody froze, ignoring Winn’s latter questions for the moment.

There was a band of silver glinting on Supergirl’s wrist, almost like a silver tattoo. It was delicate and painfully feminie as it wrapped around her wrist where a Kryptonian wedding band would go. It was as symbolic of a union as a ring was. Supergirl was engaged.

~*~

She loved flying. Really loved it. When she soared through the skies she could forget about her problems and just focus on the sun on her skin and the wind tangling in her hair. If she was above the clouds she didn’t have to see Earth and it’s cities, didn’t have to be reminded of her self-imposed responsibility to them. She didn’t have to be anything but her, alone near the stars. She didn’t have to think of Earth’s problems, or her responsibilities, or her own problems. Namely her marriage to Lex Luthor.

She was still numb about the entire thing. Held in suspended disbelief. The idea of being married, against her will, and being married to Lex _Luthor_ ; her cousins nemesis and would-be murderer, was…unfathomable. How had this happened? It was a cruel twist of fate, that was certain.

Honestly she hadn’t given marriage much thought.  Back on Krypton her spouse would have been selected her parents and used to promote the greatness of the House of El, and whatever other House her spouse came from. It was her duty; to her family, House, and to her people, to do so.

Earth had different views on marriage, especially in the West, and it was just another thing to adapt to; being able to choose who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. And if it wasn’t working, most marriages could be dissolved. What an odd concept. On Krypton it was for Life. You were able to take a mate outside of the union, if you were discrete, but otherwise you remained in the marriage until your, or your partners, death. She had always thought, or had hoped, that she would be compatible; physically, socially and intellectively, with the Match her parents decided. In her youth she had never considered them not being fit for her.  She had trusted her parents, and the idea of sex had been…well, it hadn’t even been a thought. She knew where children came from-the Birthing Matrix- anything physical was her choice.

But on Earth…. New life was created the archaic way, a way where mistakes could be made. She had seen many humans that had faults the Birthing Matrix would have rewritten; Mother Nature made mistakes. Sex itself was such a large part of human life and Alex still vowed to tell any potential partner of Kara’s about her first exposure to sex on the television. It was going to be mortifying, and Alex lorded that over her. She smiled in memory and slowly drifted back down the clouds. Then she considered that she was to be Lex’s and her smile faded.

They weren’t married, not technically, but they were engaged, by earths standards, and if their union did not go through then both of them would die. It was how the ritual worked. In ancient days the two members would be forced by their Houses into the Union, and for their honour, and duty, they would keep to the agreement brokered by their elders. If they ran away, or broke the engagement, then both parties would suffer until death. But that had never happened, as far as Kalex knew, as the Head of House would never allow it, and the members were too subservient to the House to disobey. Once the ritual was complete, there was only death or a life together. It had been why she was slowly fading away, her House hadn’t completed the ritual. The only reason she had returned to her full strength was because the ritual had been completed and Kalex predicted a week or so until she and Lex would have to complete their union or they would both die.

So. For the moment her powers had mostly returned to her, but the longer she and Lex delayed, the more ill she, and he, would become until they died. And then there was the Bond.

Dread curled in her stomach and she shook herself from such thoughts. Alex had vowed to find a way out of what CADMUS had done, and she trusted Alex, so there was no reason for the heavy churning in her stomach. No reason at all. Even if they had double-checked with her mother’s AI and she had confirmed that there was no known way around the ritual once both sides had spoken, in word and in blood.

Some-how, and she didn’t blame her at all, Alex had completed her side of the ritual-as a House representative. It must have been when she was speaking the words, she had done so out loud,  and it was the only thing they could think of that would seal the ritual. Alex was very distraught about it when it was confirmed, and had apologised profusely for basically agreeing to sell her to Lex Luthor. Kara had to leave the DEO after that. They had learnt, afterward, that because only one House had completed their side of the ritual it could have been negated, but then Alex had unknowingly completed Kara’s side.

She didn’t blame Alex. She couldn’t. There was no way Alex could have even known that by speaking the ritual out loud she was, as a representative of Kara, completing the ritual and engaging her and Lex. No one had known. There was no war or violence on Krypton, or anything that would warrant a union of feuding Houses (it was archaic and not done), and society had accepted that a political match was the way to move forward, for both House and society. Any disagreements were handled politically, and as a society they functioned quite well, each person working towards the future, for them all. It had seemed very strange coming to earth where each person was about only themselves and their immediate family, and, of course, money. It was one of the many areas she still struggled with. It was why she was such a good public servant, she had told Alex once, serving your people was an honour on Krypton, and she could serve National City, and Earth, very well here.

She wondered if she would still be able to be Supergirl when she was married to Lex. She knew that it would be difficult, even getting to Lex would be a challenge, and he would have to learn the words to complete the ceremony, and then Kara would have to go through with it. She was dreading that, more than anything else. She wasn’t concerned about the physical aspect of it, not really.

On Krypton sex wasn’t a part of a match unless both members were interested, children were birthed in other ways, and she doubted Lex had any desire for her. She certainly had none for him. No, what was worrying her was the Bond that the text spoke of. Unlike a normal marriage, the Bond Marriage would essentially join the two of them, in Rao’s essence. She didn’t know what that meant, and Kalex had been vague on the subject, just stating that they would be bonded, for life, and it was to ensure the union stayed strong. She hoped it meant that Lex wouldn’t be able to hurt her, or she him, but she was in the dark on the subject. The information was so old that even their histories only referred to it but didn’t offer an explanation.

The sharp, sudden sound of a car backfiring drew her attention from her thoughts and she let gravity pull her back towards the earth, letting go of her powers completely and free-falling. It was a rush and she understood why the humans liked to jump from heights with only parachutes to guide them safely home. But falling was nothing like flying and as the small buildings below her grew from a dark haze and took shape she angled her body and zoomed down.

The smell of ash and burning was starting to fade now and the smoke that had once curled into the sky had long been carried away by the wind. National City was rebuilding after three months, and she loved to be a part of it. Humans, for all their weakness’ when faced with any star-visitors, were a remarkable species. They pushed themselves for sport, faced life-threatening situations for pleasure, recovered remarkably quickly from physical ailments, and every time they fell, or were pushed down, they came back up again swinging. If their technology had been superior, or even equal to, their intergalactic neighbours humans would be a race to fear.

On her way to the DEO she stopped a mugging, and helped locate a missing pet, and was feeling a little better about herself, and her city, when she soared into the DEO. Her brief respite from the situation faded when she saw the pitying looks she was sent by the other agents. They all knew by now. Knew that she was to be wedded to Lex Luthor or she would die, and so would he.

She could feel her spine stiffening under the stares and she ignored them, clenching her jaw and puffing out her chest. This was only a road-block, as the humans said, it would be fine. She trusted Alex. She repeated it to herself like a mantra as she moved further into the DEO, trying to drown out the doubts starting to scream in her head, and the fear and dread churning her stomach.

Alex was standing with Vasquez and George over at a computer, and as she got closer she could see the ancient Kryptonian text that had formed the ritual. Maybe they were translating it again?

Alex glanced up and smiled at her but went back to her conversation with the other two, pointing to the screen, and Kara decided to leave her sister to whatever she was doing. When Alex wanted her, she’d come find her.

Her feet carried her aimlessly through the halls, and it was only as she got closer to the room that she realised her feet were carrying her to her mother, or as close to her as she would get on Earth.

The door required biometric identification and the scan-pad was cool on her palm before the light above the door clicked green. She could hear the rumble of the mechanisms as the door opened and the lights flickered to life.

“Kara Zor El,” her mother’s image said blankly as she entered the room. She felt a tickling in her chest and took a few deep breaths to force it down.

The ball of emotion in her stomach sat heavy and churned and pressed against her and she placed a hand over her stomach as she slowly lowered herself to the floor near her mother’s hologram.

“Hi, Mum,” she swallowed and wrapped her arms around herself, taking comfort from the cool metal that housed the remnants of her home.

“Kara Zor El.”

Hearing her mothers voice, blank and without a trace of love for her, was too much after the day she’d had and she felt the emotion in her stomach grow hot and violent.

A sob tore its way up her throat, roaring and burning, and she choked it out in a long, strangled whine.

Her ragged inhale only fuelled the pain in her chest and it was forced out again, and she wrapped her arms around herself to try and hold it in.

Something was applying pressure on her chest and her breathing was laboured as she tried to compose herself. It was getting harder to breath and she could hear her heartrate pounding out a frantic beat and the noise was loud and sickening. Feeling sick she threw her head back and collided with the concrete behind her, cracking it and leaving a head sized crater in it. She paid it no mind as the pressure on her chest increased. It was getting heavier and her breaths were pants as she tried to drag more oxygen into her body.

There was a dull beeping registering beneath the roaring of her blood in her ears and she felt clammy and warm all over and tried to slow her breathing like Alex had taught her when she first came to earth. It was in vain. She couldn’t concentrate. A grey fog was starting to obscure her vision and she shook her head sharply to try and clear it, lashing out against the edge of the concrete again and chipping more of it away. There was a soft vibration on her skin and she tried to concentrate on it, forcing the waves of sound away.

Closing her eyes she tried to centre herself in on the sound beneath the vibrating but it was muffled as though through water and at a great distance.

She tried to focus on the sound. It was important.

Slowly, very slowly to her hyper brain, the sound registered.

Her eyes flickered open. The Star Wars theme song was fairly recognisable and Lena had made her watch the latest one not a week before the invasion for one of their weekly get together’s.  It had been at least three months since she had seen it; and over a week since she’d seen Lena herself, and she was missing her friend.

Lena had been far too busy to see the movie when it first came out and had been so excited to see it that Kara had agreed, and seeing her friend turn into a super _Nerd_ ( Capital N) as soon as the theme-song started to play had prompted her to change Lena’s ringtone. Lena had been oddly shy and defensive about it, but as soon as she realised Kara wasn’t about to tease her for her nerdiness, rather she encouraged it, she had soon sprouted off what sounded like an entire Wiki full of facts and figures on everything Star Wars.

Kara had almost struggled to keep up with how quickly Lena was talking about all sorts of characters and races and people from earlier movies. It had been…. Humbling and enlightening to see Lena free to be herself and Kara had promised herself to let Lena be Lena whenever she was around her. It was a shame to see the excited glow fade into a neutral light when Lena tried to hide herself.

It took her a few more seconds to realise that Lena was ringing her.

Lena!

And then she fumbled for her phone.

She tapped at the green icon but wasn’t quick enough, and the photo of them both faded behind a ‘ _Missed Call’_ sign. It was of the two of them, leaning against each other on Kara’s couch and they were both smiling gently at the camera.

She stared at the image until her phone went black, and then just stared at her reflection in it, her body calming down.

Then her screen lit up with a notification, the voomph, voomph of a Lightsabre tearing through the air. Lena’s text tone.

‘ _Hey Kara. I’ve finally managed to get on top of things. Take-out and Rogue One? My treat? Yours? Say, eight?_ ’

Rogue One. That was the movie before one of the Star Wars movies, that much Kara knew. Alex would know better. In fact, she and Lena could probably talk to each other in that little upright bear language. Still, if Lena wanted to spend time with her, especially as she had been so busy, and was willing to buy her food, then who was she to deny her.

She swiped in her pass-code and quickly taped out a response.

‘ _Yip! Sounds good. See u then!_ ’ and punctuated it with multiple emoji’s to convey her excitement.

Sighing she leant back against the stair and inhaled, her earlier panic settling, though a trace of it lingered. She mentally ran through a list of things she needed to do before eight before sitting upright abruptly. She hadn’t really been living in her apartment since the invasion. She’d only been stopping by to sleep and maybe eat some take-out before showering and flying off to serve the city. Her home was probably a mess.

She used her palms to press herself upright against the step behind her and made a mental note to apologise to J’onn for causing some accidental damage.

She was rising to her feet when she heard Alex approaching.

“Hey,” her sister looked exhausted, features pinched, pale and her hair was tangled as though she had run her fingers through it multiple times. Learning she had engaged Kara and Lex had not done anything to improve Alex’s stress levels, though at least she now knew why Kara was weakening and dying and could look for a cure, even if there didn’t appear to be one. By speaking the ritual as a member of Kara’s family she had sealed the agreement, only death would free Kara from her duty.

“Hey,” Kara sighed, echoing her sisters exhaustion.

Alex pressed her lips together in greeting and her eyes searching as she looked Kara over and she purposely didn’t meet her eyes, not wanting Alex to know how she was falling apart on the inside.

But Alex’s eyes glanced to the sizable crater behind her and then she lifted a brow pointedly but didn’t say anything. She didn’t have much ground to stand on in that regard, after-all, she had signed Kara’s life away, even if it was an accident.

“We thought we might have found a way around the union,” Alex explained and ran a finger through her hair.

A brief wave of warmth engulfed Kara. Even knowing that there wasn’t a known way to break the engagement the DEO and her sister were trying to find loop holes, ones that ancient Kryptonian’s hadn’t thought of. But, Kara thought briefly, they wouldn’t have. A union, sealed with blood, would have been agreed by both Houses and would have been the last option. There would not be a way out of it; that would negate the point.

Alex’s brow furrowed in annoyance as her fingers tangled and she tugged them free with no small amount of ire. “But we didn’t want to talk to you until we were sure.”

Kara felt a flare of hope in her chest which quickly faded as Alex let out a long sigh. “It was a bust. CADMUS used blood, yours and Lex’s, so there’s no way around it.”

Her shoulders slumped forward and the hope flickered and died. “What was it?” She wanted to know. If they had almost found a way out…. She wanted, no she needed, to know. So close.

“Have you marry someone else,” Alex replied without fanfare and Kara blinked. Hesitated and opened her mouth, before blinking again and shutting it.

“That…. Actually makes sense,” she said and gave a little nod. If she were already married, then by Kryptonian law and custom she wouldn’t be able to marry Lex and be bonded to him. If only CADMUS had done the ritual without using her blood. If she had used the same ritual and the blood of someone else then it would be a stronger tie than the one CADMUS had used and theirs would be void. It was a thought.

She and Kal had gone back to the Fortress to talk with Kalex, and the robot hadn’t been much help, only reiterating what they already knew.

The ritual was designed to join the two feuding Houses and was only acted upon when there was no other hope. By using blood they ensured that their own House would commit to the Union and that there would be punishments if either side went against the agreement. The words bound them into the first step of the Union. As Kara’s House hadn’t spoken the ritual she had started to deteriorate, and so had Lex ( Superman had gone to investigate Lex’s health discreetly when they learnt he had lost a dramatic amount of weight and looked very unwell).  It was only after Alex had finalised the ritual did they realise that there was a way out of it- another ritual to reverse what CADMUS had done, on the off chance that one House tried to force the Union on another House. But there weren’t any of the required ingredients on Earth anyway.

Alex, unknowingly, had saved them both when she spoke, as representative of Kara’s House, the ritual. It officially engaged Lex and Kara by earths standards. They had a short time, about a week or so, to complete the Union or both of them would die. Until then their health would be back to normal. Or Kara’s was, she healed faster than humans. But Lex was recovering from his sudden illness well.

Alex inclined her head and her lips thinned. “They used your blood, and Luthor’s, there’s no-“

“Luthor. Lena.” Interrupted the AI and both Danvers’ stiffened and turned to look at it.

“Gender; Female. Age; twenty four. Hair; black. Eyes; green. Skin; pale. Height: 5’6. Occupation: CEO L-Corp, formerly LuthorCorp. Intellect: Genius. Languages; English, German, French, Japanese, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish. Education: Excels in mathematics, statistics, calculus, biology, physics, chemistry and engineering.”

Kara chanced a confused glance at Alex, who had fallen quiet and was staring at the AI with narrowed eyes. Puzzled she looked back at the image of her mother as Alura’s AI proceeded to list each and every one of Lena’s achievements and successes, from her report cards and comments, to her Masters Thesis’ and Peer Journal reviews. Her marks in her papers and her honour achievements from universities were added, and she had graduated at the top of the class in every paper she had taken. She was awarded multiple scholarships for math and science and engineering, even languages.  It included comments from peers, scholars, scientists, and recognised individuals in various fields.

Alura’s image rippled and then the AI continued to list what seemed like everything there was to know about Lena Luthor for the two sisters. Kara doubted a background check could ever be as thorough. It had even calculated Lena’s approximated net worth and added that some accounts had been difficult to track.

Alex was gapping at the AI while Kara just blinked in shock, trying to process what was going on.

“Conclusion,” said the AI clearly and Kara nearly fainted with its next words. “Luthor, Lena, is a worthy mate for Kara Zor-El.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;) Thoughts? 
> 
> Thanks for Beta-ing TV :D


	5. Chapter 5

Lena gave a small, relieved sigh as she settled into her town car and was able to rest her feet. It had been a long day, scratch that, it had been a long three months since the invasion, and she had been exhausting herself and her resources to make up for what she had done. Namely, let Rhea manipulate her into bringing the Daxamite’s to Earth. Logically she knew she was not responsible for the actions of others, and that the person to blame here was Rhea, but her actions, unknowing or not, had resulted in casualties and damages approaching a billion dollars’ worth. So, yes, she was feeling guilty and had a driving need to make up for what she had done.

Supergirl had told her that Rhea would have gotten what she had wanted with or without Lena, and was glad that she was alright, and for her help in getting rid of the invaders. But that didn’t do much for Lena’s guilt.

Perhaps it was the Luthor in her, but she had not confessed to being the one to open the portals and that brought the Daxamite’s to Earth. Only the DEO was aware of her involvement, and they couldn’t admit to it without exposing themselves, though black vans and uniforms and sophisticated technology did that for them, so she doubted they would be telling anyone.

Lena didn’t want to lose all that she had gained for L-Corp, and the trust of the people, by telling the press what she had done. She knew she had no excuse, and knew the people would see it that way. She had spoken discretely with her PR Director about it and she had suggested Lena keep quiet, if she had been involved. L-Corp was gaining ground after what Lex had done, and any confession would lose all the positive momentum.

Still. She didn’t like it. Instead she tried to make up for it by donating her time and resources to the people of National City. She’d put the homeless up in hotels and paid for construction teams to see to hospitals and shelters, and had made sure the city was getting enough resources. She had even had her pilot fly across the country for supplies and use the Luthor jet to transport them. Most of this she did quietly, she didn’t want anyone to accuse her of using the tragedy for ‘good press’ and it was less hassle to do it in the shadows. She had done a lot of charity work in the shadows where her anonymity was mostly guaranteed, and was used to it.

She had been very busy, but her hard work had, as always, paid off. Her buildings were sound and her employees had a safe place to return to work, and her HR Head had suggested she offer her workers a choice; return to work and gain some normality, or stay home and take care of their families. Lena had made sure they would be taken care of if they chose to stay home (only while necessary) and had even flown in private contractors and supplies in order to get their homes fixed sooner. If they did come back to work they could negotiate their hours with HR.

Most of her employees had come back to work, thanking her for her generosity but wanting to get back to normal. They had most of their meals provided and could use L-Corp facilities (showers and toilets) if their own were still damaged. There was something to be said for being one of the richest women in the country and in the city. Her infrastructure was some of the first to be fixed. She personally made sure that hospitals, shelters and clinic’s got theirs repaired first, and her buildings were as sound as they were before the invasion.

In the first few days she had opened up her spare floors and let people sleep at L-Corp. It hadn’t taken much, just moving a few things around and rewriting the security clearances. L-Corp had conference rooms and even bed-rooms for out of town guests, so it had the facilities to cater to her homeless employees and their families, even if it was a little cramped. Lena herself had been staying at the top of her tower, in her private rooms. It was easier and she was close to work so she could stay up late and get up early.

She had only visited her apartment once, to confirm that it hadn’t been damaged and that all her possessions were sound. She had returned to L-Corp, supervising the rebuilding and repairing from her tower. Jess had been a wonderful assistant (and was in need of a raise) and had gotten her clothes and toiletries for her while she was staying at work. Jess had been one of the people who she had put up in a hotel as her apartment had been destroyed in the battle.

Fortunately for Jess her family was in Metropolis as Lena had taken her with her when she moved L-Corp to National City, so they were all okay. Jess had declined her offer of a private flight back home so that her family knew she was okay and had said she would feel more useful with Lena at work. Her assistant defiantly needed that raise. Maybe Lena could throw in a shopping trip? After all, an assistant to Lena Luthor needed to be fabulously dressed, and what better way to say thank you than paying for an entire new uniform for her best, and only, assistant? It was food for thought and she considered it as her driver wound the way downtown to her apartment.

They had to take a few detours as some of the roads were still closed for maintenance and repair, but she was soon at her apartment.

After checking a message on her phone, she leant forward to address her driver, Peter. He could usually read her moods and would choose to lift the divider to give them some privacy, or keep it down so that she didn’t feel so alone and could hear what Jazz song he was listening to. Pete loved Jazz.

“You’re okay to go and pick up our food?” She enquired, knowing he usually had no problem with going where she wanted, and he was paid well for his service, but she liked to make sure. Being friendly with the people who served you was one way to make sure their service was excellent. Money was another, but she liked that her staff wanted to work for her.

“Of course, Miss Luthor,” he inclined his head in the rear-view mirror and rattled off the names of the take-out restaurants. “Then I’ll be back at seven forty-five to pick you up and take you to Miss Danvers.”

Lena gave him a little nod in thanks and gathered up her belongings. “I’ll see you soon, Pete. Thanks.”

She had long cured him of getting out of the car and opening the door for her, and he only did it when she needed to keep up appearances or when they had the time. She had encouraged him not to, quite pointedly in the beginning, before he had told her he liked to open the door for her, even if it was part of his job. He was there to serve, he had told her, and that included opening her door for her and helping her with her bags. Eventually she had let him win- with the compromise that if she was alone he didn’t need to let her out. There had been no compromise on him addressing her with respect. He had flat out refused to call her anything but ‘Miss Luthor’ and she hadn’t the energy to argue with him. He was a professional and she understood that.

The pimpled youth at the door to her apartment building smiled at her in greeting and raced to open the door for her, tipping his head respectfully.

“Miss Luthor! How are you?” He enquired genuinely as she strode towards him and slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Hello, Matt. I’ve been busy,” she replied and smiled at him. “Are your classes back to normal?”

Matt was studying to be a teacher at NCU and some of the campus had been damaged so his classes had been all over the place. She had helped him a few times with his homework, when he was not on the door, he was at customer service and would sometimes bring her meals from down the street.

She had worked out an arrangement with the staff that she would order her meals and pay for them if the staff delivered them to her room. Security wouldn’t let any unauthorised visitors into the building. So she had it delivered to reception and the staff brought it up to her. She tipped well, they had learnt, and would trip over themselves to serve her. It was almost like she lived in a hotel. There was a gym, pool, a games room, even a cinema, for the tenants. If you paid extra your rooms would be cleaned and serviced. Most of the tenants didn’t know she owned the building, and had designed the security features years ago. It was based off a model she had done in her teenage years and was still up to date even years later. She liked to know she was safe when she slept. Call her paranoid, but she’d just say she was a Luthor.

He nodded, hair bouncing a little. “Yeah. We’ve had to change our schedules a little bit, but nothing too major. Everything is almost back to usual.”

“Glad to hear it,” she said as she passed him by and entered the lobby. “Education’s important.”

He smiled at her cheekily, showing his braces. “Coming from someone with an IQ of one-fifty.”

She gave a little laugh and winked at him. “And then some.”

He grinned after her, maybe a little star-stuck, as she quickly crossed the floor to security. She didn’t have to hand over her ID as the staff knew who she was- they knew all their tenants- but she did have to pass through the security gate, just in case. Though if she did have a weapon or something there wasn’t much they could do. Still, they  (and she) liked to know who was bringing what into her building-just in case.

Her face would be picked up on various cameras as she walked across the floor and when she arrived at the elevator the guard pressed the button to open the door for her.

“Miss Luthor.”

She gave him a tired nod. “Andrew. How’s puppy training going?”

He grinned in response and dug out his cell-phone to show her. “Good! She can shake now. Luke’s trying to teach her to play dead.”

Soon she was watching a recording of a puppy bounding along the grass with a ball in its mouth. She was a Saint Bernard, aptly named Beethoven, and was about three months old now, and growing like puppies did. The litter had been born on the day of the invasion, perhaps out of the stress and shock of it. But the puppies had been healthy and cute. On the video a boy was running along behind her and suddenly cried out, ‘Avada Kedavra!’ and the puppy screeched to a halt, looked at him and then sort of fell over. The camera-man and boy laughed.

“The Killing Curse?” Lena asked and shook her head as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Andrew nodded. “I read them to my youngest every night. You have a nice night, Miss Luthor,” he said as she entered the elevator and pressed her palm to the reader.

“You too, Andrew.”

At her touch the doors slowly closed and she tapped the screen to rise to her floor. There were two elevators needed to get to her floor. One, which was the usual elevator for everyone else, and the second was for the VIP’s at the top of the building. You needed to exit the first elevator and then walk through another security point before you could take a second elevator to the top floor. There were only a half dozen apartments at the top, and hers was one of them. It had everything you would expect from a suite in a five-star hotel, except only five people had access to her room as it was safe-guarded with biometric locks. Her house-keeper, cook, and the apartment manager all underwent background checks that were intensive. Jess and Kara always had access to her. Lena didn’t trust just anyone with her privacy and security.

The supervisory staff could get to her floor, and there were only about eight of them in total, and the regular staff had to be guided up via another room which had access to the entire building’s security and elevators. It was how Matt was able to deliver her food. He had to take the elevator and then be cleared by security before being allowed out onto the special floor and into the second elevator. Privacy and security was an expensive and difficult process, but it made her feel safe, and she did pay well. So did the other tenants. One of her neighbours was the CEO of a Bank, and the other was a NC Senator.

She was in her room and showered within twenty minutes, and made sure to dress down for her visit with Kara. There was something to be said for comfort clothing, and Kara knew how comfort clothing worked. She had dragged her shopping once, when they first became friends, and had refused to leave _Target_ until Lena had enough comfy clothing. She thought she looked like a slob at first, but no-one looked at her twice when she was out. She was able to relax much easier with them on.

Today she was in light grey sweat-pants with converse high-tops and a faded Metropolis Uni t-shirt. She slipped a light black sweat-shirt over her t-shirt and piled her hair on her head. She finished her look by removing her contacts and picking up her thick rimmed glasses which covered most of her face. With minimal make-up and only her phone/ID card and credit card wallet, she was almost unrecognisable from the CEO that had entered the building not half an hour earlier.

Pete was downstairs waiting for her in the loading zone outside the apartment. Security knew the plate numbers of all tenants’ vehicles so he had not been asked to move while he waited, and he nodded at her from the driver’s seat. One of their rules was that when she was dressed down he was to be as inconspicuous as possible.

She tipped Matt as she left and waved goodbye. “Say ‘hi’ to Miss Danvers for me!”

She shook her head fondly at the young man. He was as taken by Kara as she was, and almost tripped over himself whenever she was visiting. “I’ll tell her you said ‘hello’,” she promised as she opened the door.

He beamed and waved goodbye as she closed the door behind her. It had been a while since she had brought Kara home with her and she knew that Matt had probably missed her bubbly friend. But she and Kara had been very busy. Only recently had she been able to slow down. L-Corp stocks had returned as people felt safe enough to put their money back into investments and most of her buildings were fixed and her employees were back at work.

The car smelt like take-out and she eyed the number of bags and wondered just how Kara managed to eat it all, but had learnt not to question her friend’s appetite.

Their journey to Kara’s was a familiar one, even if she hadn’t been down it for a long time. It took only a little bit longer than expected in places where only one lane was open, but soon they were pulling up outside Kara’s apartment.

“I’ll let you know when to come and pick me up,” Lena told Pete as she shuffled the bags around so she could carry them and he nodded. “But it shouldn’t be any later than midnight.”

“Of course, Miss Luthor. Just let me know,” he said and then met her eyes in the mirror. His smile was kind and gentle. “You have fun with Miss Danvers.”

Lena hesitated and searched his eyes but there was only soft kindness, and a knowing twinkle. She rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you later, Pete,” she said, tone stiffening in warning but he just grinned at her, knowing exactly what had gotten her hackles up and knowing she wouldn’t do anything about it.

“Have a nice night, Miss Luthor,” he said and turned back to the road, the picture of professionalism as she got out of the car.

She was part way up the steps when he wound down the window and called out, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

She didn’t have a hand free to flip him off but hoped her glare would be enough of an answer. She could imagine him chuckling as he drove away, after making sure she was safe inside the building.

Thankfully Kara’s building had elevators. She didn’t want to think about taking the stairs with how tired she felt and the amount of food she was carrying.

It was a quick journey up, and only one couple got on and off while she was there and they barely glanced at her, but then saw the food and looked at her knowingly. Kara’s appetite was legendary in the building, and Kara had told her that her neighbours thought she was having silent parties by way of how much food she always had delivered and by how quiet it was. They didn’t know that it was Kara that ate all of it herself, and sometimes Alex, and Maggie, or Winn and James.

She had barely lifted her hand to knock on the door when it was flying open and Kara was beaming at her. Her smile was as comforting as sinking into a chair in front of the fire and something inside her melted at the sight.

Kara’s glasses were askew and her messy bun had strands escaping it and her shoulder was escaping her t-shirt.

“Lena! Hi!” Kara chirped and threw herself at her, not caring about the take-out in her hands as she gave her a hug. Kara was warm, so warm, and she smelt like sunshine and some sort of fruity scent, maybe her shampoo? And Lena tried to lift her arms to return the embrace but couldn’t.

“Hi, Kara,” she smiled and felt her body relax for what felt like the first time in months. “I’d hug you but I-“ she lifted her arms a little, feeling them strain with the weight of their food, and it was then that Kara noticed the take-out.

Her eyes widened in delight and she made a little sound before taking them from Lena very quickly. “Ooh, food!”

 It felt like barely seconds had passed before Kara had all of the options, from different locations, spread out across her kitchen and had a plate shoved into Lena’s hand.

Kara already had her plate piled high and was shovelling noodles into her mouth with her eyes on Lena.

“And here I thought you were happy to see me,” she commented wryly, knowing that Kara was happy to see her as she had hugged her the moment she saw her, and had likely been waiting by the door to get there so fast. She hadn’t noticed the food until Lena had mentioned it.

Kara’s eyes widened comically and she placed her plate on top of the stove before launching herself at Lena again, as though to prove that it was Lena she wanted and missed and not food.

“No!” She exclaimed and Lena was prepared for the force that hit her this time and braced for an armful of blonde. “I missed you! I’m happy to see you!” She said fiercely, wrapping her in another tight hug and Lena was able to return it, sinking into the hug and bringing her arms around Kara’s back.

She’d only been able to see Kara a half dozen times in the months since the invasion, and when she had Kara had looked increasingly worse. She’d looked pale and worn and generally exhausted, and Lena knew she was out and about trying to keep peoples hopes up. But Kara looked better now, happier, healthier, and Lena was glad. A light like Kara shouldn’t be allowed to dim.

More tension faded from her shoulders and she pressed a little closer to Kara, noting absently the height difference. When she was out of her heels Kara was a little taller than her, the perfect height for her to tuck her head into Kara’s shoulder if she wanted. Nuzzle into her neck. Place a kiss there…At the thought she stiffened a little and pulled back and Kara launched herself backwards as though she had done something.

Her brow was tightened in worry and her eyes were open and concerned but Lena just smiled at her and the crinkle eased.

“I’m so hungry,” she said and Kara was back to beaming, their moment forgotten. Though as she looked for her plate she could feel Kara’s concerned eyes on her and thought that perhaps it hadn’t been forgotten, only ignored.

They settled into their routine quickly and used one of Lena’s online accounts to load Star Wars: Rogue One. In the time it took Lena to open the film and start it loading Kara had already finished her first plate and was up and serving herself another one. She even poured Lena a glass of wine and brought it over for her while cracking open a cider for herself. Lena had a few bottles of her own wine at Kara’s and had made sure that her house-keeper kept Kara’s preferences stocked in her fridge for when she visited. Kara tended not to drink alcohol but liked the taste of cider.

They curled up on Kara’s couch; there wasn’t very much space for them to stretch out, but they folded their legs over each other and made it work. Neither of them wanted to move to the other chair, and it was a comfortable fit, and Lena liked the warmth.

Lena ate slowly knowing her body wouldn’t be able to eat very much as she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and then it had been an apple and cinnamon muffin. She’d been surviving on coffee and will for months, and knew her current life-style habits were taking a toll on her body, but Jess, and Kara, were too polite to say so.

“Oh, hey!” Kara pointed out as the movie started and they were in a home with a girl and her parents. “It’s that guy!” She said unnecessarily. “He’s in Hannibal!”

Lena cast her a glance before looking back at the television. She wouldn’t know. She didn’t have time to watch much television, and when she did it was usually a documentary or a game show (her guilty pleasure).

“Shhhsh,” she hushed Kara gently and Kara looked apologetic but then she was back to being engrossed by the television. Every so often she would mutter to herself about the film, saying that wouldn’t work because it was impossible, or that this thing was all wrong. In the end Lena amused herself by keeping an eye on Kara’s reactions and the other on the plot. It was all very predictable but it was enjoyable to watch, but not as much as Kara’s reactions.

She was engrossed, and obviously very invested in the story, ‘but it’s so cool to have a female protagonist, Lena!’ and by the time the Rebels were landing at the base Lena had given up watching the movie entirely, and just settled for watching Kara.

The curve of her friends face in the dull light from the television was enthralling and she traced its arc with her eyes, imprinting the angle of it to memory, wondering if she were to sculpt it if she would be able to capture the gentle beauty she had. Kara had a silent strength to her, Lena had learnt several weeks into their friendship, a strength that she didn’t often show, but when she did, it transformed her into something else. Something that was Kara, but was another side to her. Like when Maggie had arrested her and Kara had looked like she was ready to jump into battle for her. It was sweet and gentle as well as strong and protective and summed Kara up perfectly. She was loyal and good and kind and loving to a fault and had such a large heart, and she was ready to defend everyone with all that she had, even if they didn’t quite deserve it, like Lena.

Kara sniffed when the blind warrior was killed and she gave a little cheer when his friend managed to kill some storm-troopers before dying himself.

Kara was... words couldn’t describe Kara, Lena thought as she ran her eyes over the curve of Kara’s jaw and the bow of her lips. Kara was brave and kind and smart and good and warm, very warm, Lena thought and shifted her legs from where they were resting on top of Kara’s lap.

Kara’s hand rested on her shin and rubbed her leg absently as she watched the movie, and Lena went still, not sure if she wanted to draw Kara’s attention to what her hand was doing.

Kara was willing to believe and defend and challenge her and it was so refreshing. As she had told Kara once before, not many people were willing to associate with her; with her money and technology sure, people weren’t willing to turn that away, but her name and her person they could do without. She endured judgements and comments and false accusations and imprisonments with only two people defending her; Jess, who had known her for years and was probably the closest thing she had to a friend before Kara, and Kara herself. Kara who told Supergirl to believe in her and to save her. Kara who challenged her about her Alien Detection Device, but was fair. Kara who comforted her after she had sacrificed Jack for Supergirl. Kara who seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being and wanted to spend time with her simply because she enjoyed her company.

She was just, loyal and fiercely protective of those she cared about. She was more than willing to face the consequences of her actions if what she was doing was right. She was just as much of a hero as Supergirl was, if not more so, because she was painfully human. But that was the beauty of Kara; she was an ordinary person being extraordinary and she was so inspiring. Kara made Lena want to believe that there was some good in her, that she was capable of changing what fate had written for her as Luthor. Kara was a light. Kara was the sun. And Lena needed her in her life, needed her as all things that lived needed the sun, if she were to step out from the shadow her name cast her in. And that was the problem. Kara was her friend. Her only friend, and she needed her. So she could never do anything to risk that friendship, especially act on her feelings for her.

Lena was familiar with crushes, she rationalised for what felt like the hundredth time as the climax of the movie began. She’d crushed on her math teacher in high-school, her chemistry lecturer at university, and even, for a brief moment that she would never, ever admit to, Cat Grant. They all faded, as fleeting as leaves in autumn, and her crush on Kara would fade too, given time. But it was bittersweet.

Excruciating and exuberant in turn. Because she loved being with Kara, she was like her own ray of sunshine and when she was around Kara she felt like she could just be Lena. There were no responsibilities of the Luthor name holding her back, nothing to trouble her, no employees relying on her to lead the company, no stockholders making demands, no government agencies wanting her brain and skill. She was just a young woman spending time with her friend. It was almost like she was normal. It was like she was just Lena. And that was worth more than whatever may come of her admitting her feelings for the woman next to her.

Kara was a beautiful person, her inner beauty radiating off her with a smile, a laugh, a kind gesture. She was generous and sweet and fair, and so… full of hope. Initially she had thought Kara was naive to the ways of the world, and she a jaded Luthor, but once she had gotten to know Kara she had understood. Kara had hope. Hope for joy and love and family and the goodness of humanity. She hoped for the best in people, she genuinely wanted to help people and make a difference and to make them smile.

Kara deserved the world. And while Lena could give it to her, and she had no doubt that she could as money wasn’t an object- The world was not Lena’s to give, and she would not take it and give it to Kara. Kara was worthy of so much more than Lena could give.

She needed someone strong and brave and passionate and good. Someone who stood up for others, and for what was right. Someone like… James Olsen. The thought almost brought a sneer to her lips.

She knew of Superman’s buddy. How could she not? The man had written several scathing articles on her and her family and had been outspoken in the ‘all Luthor’s are bad’ department. His friendship with Clark Kent, oh yes, she knew who that man was, it was one of the reasons she had been so… hesitant when Kara had let on that they were friends. She would hate for James to tell Kara some lies and for Kara to believe them, but Kara was Kara, and she still came back, even after James had undoubtedly spoken of just what a terrible person Lena was. It proved just how good Kara was, and how unworthy Lena was.

“Didn’t you like it?” Kara enquired and her voice pulled Lena from her thoughts.

“Hm?” She glanced at the screen and saw the start of the end credits.

“Didn’t you like the ending? You’re frowning….” Kara’s voice trailed off and her brow was crinkled, obviously unhappy that Lena wasn’t happy.

“No, I-“ Lena paused a moment and made sure to wipe her ire from her face. Thinking of James Olsen did that to her. She was not jealous that he and Kara used to date. She was not. “I…liked it,” she said after some thought, not entirely sure what had happened but knowing she had heard breathing that signalled Darth Vader, and that as a stand-alone prequel that everyone had to die, even if they did succeed. “I just prefer the main trilogy’s,” she felt her nose crinkle as she added, “even if Luke is a whiney baby. And baby Annakin is adorable. I just want to take him home.”

Kara’s features smoothened and she nodded. “I _know_ ,” she emphasised seriously and then she tilted her head in thought. “Did you-“ she hesitated and Lena lifted a brow, encouraging her to continue as the credits continued to roll in the background.

“Do you want kids?”

Lena hesitated and shifted a little, but Kara’s hand was firm on her shin so she didn’t move her legs.

“I- I don’t know,” she said finally after a long moments thought. “Before… Lex….” She said and Kara gave a little understanding nod. “I thought that I’d meet someone, eventually, and we’d settle down but…. I never really thought about it….” She gave a little self-deprecating shrug. “No-one wants to touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole,” she said and gave Kara a wry smile.

Kara’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not true!” She burst out and Lena started slightly at the ferocity of the statement.

“You’re kind and smart and good and warm and, and,” Kara lifted her hands and moved them as she tried to convey her thoughts and feelings on the matter. “Brave and sweet and a bit of a nerd,” she added lowering her voice. “ _Anyone_ ,” she emphasized, voice strong again, “would be lucky to have you.” She gave a little squeeze of Lena’s legs and Lena had to swallow down the tickle in her throat.

She must be tired. Her eyes wanted to water at just how kind Kara was being.

“You’re too kind, Kara,” she protested softly, knowing that Kara was blinded and could only see some good in her, because she wasn’t the things Kara had just said. She wasn’t brave and strong or kind and- well, she _was_ smart. She qualified for a genius twice over, but she didn’t like to brag.

Kara’s eyes narrowed and she straightened and Lena tensed a moment, waiting for….something.

“Lena,” Kara said strongly, and there was that silent strength to her that Lena had noticed early on. Something that made her stand out. Something that made everyone look to her for guidance and truth. “You are one of the bravest people I have ever met,” she said firmly, eyes glinting and capturing Lena’s own. She couldn’t look away.

She opened her mouth to protest but Kara’s voice was cutting.

“No,” she said sharply. “You, Lena,” she continued and held her eyes. “Are so brave and strong. You took over your families company after what Lex did and you turned it around. You raised the L-Corp stocks and reputation. “You set a trap for those thieves at the Gala. You saved all of the aliens in National City and turned your mother in.”

Lena felt her eyes twitch in memory. The look of betrayal on her mothers face as she had realised what she had done wouldn’t go away any time soon, but there had been a brief glimmer of pride there to. Pride that had been unwarranted, but pride all the same.

“You helped send the Daxamite’s away.”

Both she and Kara winced at that. The memory of Kara’s ex-boyfriend leaving was still a sore spot for them both, for different reasons, obviously, but still.

“I also brought them to the city, Kara,” Lena said abruptly, needing to get that information out. She looked away, unable to see the betrayal and realisation on Kara’s face when she learnt the truth of the woman opposite her. She didn’t think she could bear it. She tangled her fingers together in a nervous habit Lillian had cured of her long ago, but obviously not as thoroughly as she would like. She really must be tired, all of her vulnerabilities were coming back to the surface.

“I know,” Kara said softly and the way she squeezed her leg made Lena lift her eyes in soft wonder. Kara didn’t… hate her for it? Didn’t blame her for what she had unwittingly done?

“You... k-know?” She asked, stammering it out in a way she hadn’t since she was a child and Lillian had told her that Luthor’s did not stutter and did she want to be a Luthor?

Kara’s smile was soft, sad, but gentle. “I know,” she said tenderly and slowly reached out to calm Lena’s restless fingers.

Her touch was soft and reassuring and Lena let one of her hands be taken. The other fell to her side as Kara ran a feather-light tough along her knuckles.

“I know it wasn’t your fault,” she said gently, firmly, with the faith of a religious follower.

“But-“ she tried to protest softly, but her words were stolen from her by Kara’s soft, gentle touches and steady blue gaze.

“No,” she said and shook her head, eyes locked on Lena’s. “It wasn’t your fault. Supergirl…. Supergirl told me what happened.”

Lena swallowed and wondered if she had lost the trust of the hero as well. “And she… she told me that you had thought you were helping someone who was lost and alone… someone like her,” she said and Lena felt her breath catch. Supergirl had said that? Supergirl had seen her actions as her trying to help send someone who, like Supergirl, was stuck on Earth but who, unlike Supergirl, had a home and a people to return to.

“She said that?” Lena asked softly, and swallowed the emotion in her throat.

Kara nodded softly. “Yes. She said that you were doing what she would have wanted you to do, knowing what you did. You were trying to help,” she gave a soft, watery smile that Lena returned. Kara was probably upset that her actions had sent her boyfriend away.

“She doesn’t blame you for Rhea manipulating you,” Kara continued and her soft strokes on Lena’s skin were starting to make her dizzy, or maybe it was that she hadn’t inhaled since Kara had taken her hand for fear that she would let her go.

“The Queen would have gotten what she wanted, with or without you, and I’m glad you’re alright.” Kara’s eyes were bright even through Lena’s blurry vision.

“I-I brought them to Earth,” she tried again to protest her actions, knowing that no matter what her reason, what she had done still had consequences and she didn’t know how to handle the soft, kind understanding, affection that Kara was showering her with.

“You were sending an alien home,” Kara said and she had flipped her hand over and was drawing inconsequential patterns on her palm and Lena had to remind herself to breathe.

“I should have realised,” Lena said and waited, holding her breath for Kara’s response.

“Maybe,” she said instantly, not even needing to think about it. And if it were anyone but Kara she would have thought they were trying to kiss her ass like so many people did. But this was Kara. “But you believed, you hoped, that she was genuine,” Kara said and her voice was soft and warm and Lena felt a soft heat rising in her body, tingling at her nerve endings and lifting the fine hairs at her nape.

“And that’s what heroes do,” Kara spoke gently, sincerely and Lena could only stare at her and absorb her words, unable to deny them or protest when Kara talked to her like that, touched her the way she was. With quiet affection and soft understanding. Kara knew that she hadn’t meant for what happened to happen. Kara knew that she had been trying to help an alien home. Kara believed that she had good, honest intentions, and was trying to help. Kara forgave her.

“They hope for the best in people,” she gave a wry smile. “El Mayarah.”

Lena felt her brow twitch and Kara explained without her needing to ask.

“Kryptonian,” she said, the words familiar on her tongue. “El Mayarah is the, um, motto of Supergirl’s House. It means stronger together. The ‘S’ that the Super’s wear… its El, their symbol for hope.”

“So the Super’s are ‘hope’ heroes?” Lena asked dryly, trying to pull Kara’s attention from her vulnerability, but Kara was having none of it. She just looked at her, smiling with her eyes and paralysing Lena with the look.

“Exactly,” she agreed softly, nothing remotely mocking about her tone like Lena’s could have been taken as. “That’s what they want to be. Hope. Hope for humanity….And that’s what you are.”

She left her words hanging there for a long moment, long enough for Lena to look searchingly in her eyes for an answer.

“A ‘hope’ hero.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for Beta-ing TV! <3
> 
> For Sara. Feel better!


	6. Chapter 6

Alex Danvers marched into L-Corp with Agent’s Hill, Brewster, and Shaw hot on her heels. They were in full DEO issued combat gear for effect and many pairs of eyes followed them into the building.

She ignored the stares as she marched towards security and flashed her badge at the desk. The guards paled at their approach but remained firm and followed their protocol, and no matter how fiercely Alex glared they did not cut any corners. They took their photos, scanned their names on a private database, checked their fire-arms, and only when they were satisfied did they wave them towards the elevator.  She had to admire their professionalism, even if it were a bit of a delay.

As they entered the elevator Alex saw a guard pick up a phone and knew he was informing Lena of her arrival. Good. She wanted the woman to sweat. She’d be easier to work with if she were caught off guard.

“This plan is…” Shaw began after a moments silence in the elevator and Alex interrupted her.

“Stupid?”

Shaw lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I was gonna say ballsy, but it’s that too.” Were it an actual mission then she wouldn’t have said anything, or at least been so disrespectful, but maybe she would have. Shaw was one of a kind- a brilliant agent, but not a people person.

Hill snorted but offered no comment and Alex just sighed. “It’s my-our-only option.”

“It’s that,” Shaw agreed and rearranged her gun in her hands. They had gone all out, per Alex’s request, and had their full body armour, boots and weaponry. They looked very, very badass, and Alex felt like a badass as she stood in front of them in her own uniform. She wasn’t carrying a mammoth gun though, but she did have one on her thigh. She had wanted her hands free for this, besides, she figured it made her look more powerful for not carrying a gun when her team was.

“Can you get a photo of her face?” Hill asked as they approached the top floor, and Brewster barked a laugh.

“Oh, yes! Can you imagine?” Clearly he hadn’t read up much on Lena Luthor. She was no stranger to powerful people and big guns, especially in recent years.

Alex felt her stomach churn with nerves. Hostile aliens she could face down no problem. Difficult missions in unforgiving terrain; she’d pass with flying colours. Introduce her girlfriend to her mother; not as easy but easier than coming out. Go head to head with Lena Luthor when Lena held all the cards; that wasn’t so simple. But this was her last resort. Her only one.

“I don’t think she’ll take it well.” Hill laughed.

Shaw shrugged. “Can I shoot her?”

“No,” Alex said immediately, unsure if the agent was joking or not. Sometimes Shaw got very excited about the prospect of shooting people.

“Can I threaten her? It’d be faster,” she pointed out logically.

“No,” Alex sighed, sometimes Shaw was a bit like a child. Entirely focused on the mission and how to achieve it as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

“Can I-“

“No, Sameen,” Alex said firmly. “You _can_ ,” she emphasised. “Stand imposingly behind me while I speak to Lena.”

Shaw huffed out a sigh and Brewster coughed to hide his amusement. “Fine. If I’d realised how boring this was I wouldn’t have agreed. I could be watching the game with a beer.”

“Replay,” Hill corrected.

“ _Beer_ ,” Sameen replied and he thought a moment and nodded.

The elevator slowed and instantly the agents straightened and took on a professional air. Even on their own time for a…friendly chat… they were representing the ‘FBI’ and had to be careful with their cover.

There were security guards on Lena’s floor but they let them pass without comment, though they watched them carefully and Alex noted the care to their weapons and how they carried themselves and figured they were former military. It would be easy work with good pay, so it was a good job option for their returned servicemen and women, and was certainly better than ending up on the streets like many Vet’s did.

Lena had two secretaries on her own floor, and they watched them pass with wide eyes as they walked down the corridor, and various cameras tracked their path. As they got closer to Lena’s office they could see her assistant return to her seat and she watched them approach with a guarded expression.

“Miss Luthor is in the middle of a phone call,” the assistant said clearly. “Is it urgent?”

Alex hesitated. Lena was not someone that you wanted to cross. Maggie had learnt that the hard way when Lena’s team of lawyers had gently reminded the city that she had been arrested falsely and had been allegedly poorly treated while in custody. Plus she had been kidnapped. Maggie would eventually face an enquiry, and so would her department, because of how quickly they had taken the false evidence, without checking the source, and arrested Lena Luthor. They had _paraded_ her out of her building, in front of paparazzi who had been tipped off, and then tossed her in jail. It hadn’t been handled delicately, like it really should have been, and Maggie had been livid with her when she had gently pointed that out, though she had believed Lena was guilty as well. To be fair she might have treated Lena similarly, but she wasn’t the one under investigation, or would be once the mess with the Daxamite’s was sorted.

If they interrupted Lena when they weren’t on official business, and she was doing something important, then she wouldn’t be very happy. And Alex needed Lena to be as reasonable as possible if she were to get through the day without a migraine. As it was she could feel her head starting to throb.

“No,” Alex said politely, knowing from Kara that treating the staff kindly when you wanted to speak to their important boss often helped you along. “But if she could spare us a moment it _is_ important.”

The assistant, who didn’t have a name tag on her person or desk, looked them over and then gave a little nod. She reached forward and pressed a little button somewhere on her desk.

“Miss Luthor. When you finish your call some FBI Agents are here to see you. An Agent-?”

“Danvers,” Alex said and saw the brief flicker of recognition that the secretary showed.

“An Agent Danvers.” She listened a moment and then nodded.

“Of course, Miss Luthor.”

She released the button and sat back and Alex realised she must have activated her earpiece to talk to Lena.

“Any relation to Kara Danvers?” The secretary enquired.

“My sister.”

Lena’s assistant smiled at the mention of her sister, and it transformed her face from politely wary to open and almost friendly.

“I haven’t seen Miss Danvers for a while,” she said and she flicked her head towards Lena’s office. “I’m sure Miss Luthor has missed her company also.”

Alex gave a little awkward nod, not sure what to say but the assistant saved her from a response.

“Miss Luthor is scheduled to finish her call at twelve thirty,” she said calmly and reached for her mouse. “She’ll see you during her lunch break. But,” the assistant warned, whatever openness that had been on her face at the thought of Kara disappeared, “do be quick. She has a busy day. You can wait over there,” she pointed over to a group of comfortable looking chairs down the wall and Alex nodded.

“Thank you.”

The four of them went and sat down and Brewster gave a low whistle of appreciation. “Nice!”

“This probably costs more than a month’s rent,” Hill commented, settling into the admittedly heavenly chairs.

“Try a year,” Alex suggested as she got comfortable, resting one leg on top of the other.

“Seriously?” Hill grunted as he shifted further on the chairs, adjusting his gun over his lap and grinning at the security guards who were watching them with sharp eyes. “Nice to see how the other half lives innit.”

“She has a registered IQ of over one hundred and sixty, is a member of MENSA, made her first million dollars at age eleven, and speaks over six languages. She has a PhD in Physics, Biology, Engineering, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics and in Business. Of course she is wealthy,” Shaw said as she closed her eyes and leant back, the picture of relaxation, though Alex knew that she was aware of everything going on.

“You’ve done your homework,” Alex commented in surprise.

“Eh,” Shaw shrugged. “My former employer was…. Interested in the Luthor weaponry. Wanted to see if they’d ever sell to our enemies.” She paused a moment. “They weren’t.”

The other agents sat back satisfied, but Alex eyed Shaw a moment wondering if there was anything else to her information.

They waited quietly until twenty-five to one and Jess waved them into Lena’s office.

Lena was sipping from a crystal glass as they entered and ran her eyes over them a moment before coming to a halt on Shaw and she broke into a wide smile.

“Sam!” She said with obviously affection and familiarity and rose to her feet.

“Miss Luthor,” Shaw said, the picture of professionalism, unruffled by the looks from her comrades she was receiving.

“Agent Danvers,” Lena said, turning from Shaw with no affront at her professional manner. Obviously they knew each other and Lena knew how Shaw was.

“What can I help you with? I have,” she glanced at her wrist and a watch that was probably worth a half-years wages. “Twenty three minutes.” She sat down and folded her hands across her desk, giving Alex her full attention and Alex floundered. Somehow Lena had made her feel very important and eager to please her and she shook herself. She wasn’t some intern wanting to please the boss, she didn’t need to feel cowed by that powerful gaze even if she was.

She hesitated. How did she approach what she wanted to ask? She had to be delicate. Lena was her only option and she needed her on her side. She needed her to agree.

“Have a seat,” Lena directed to one of the chairs in front of her desk and Alex decided to be polite and sit in it. It was as comfortable as the chairs outside.

“Well, um, CADMUS has um, they’ve placed, well, a curse on Supergirl,” she said, trying each word out before she spoke it. She didn’t want to go into too much detail without Lena’s agreement and NDA’s, for the safety of everyone present, but she needed to give context.

Lena’s brow tightened and she leant forward, eyes grave and intent. She didn’t mock Alex’s phrasing as many others might, she merely accepted Alex’s word for what was happening and moved on.

“How? What does it do?”

“They took her blood and used an ancient Kryptonian ritual,” Alex said, choosing to skim over the details of it for the moment.

Lena’s eyes narrowed further and Alex could almost see her brain working.

“What does it do? Is she alright?” She partially rose from her seat and Alex saw, for a moment, the woman Kara would talk about. One who was genuine and kind and wanted to change the world.

“She is for the moment,” Alex reassured Lena and saw the faint lines in her body relax slightly. “But its going to-“ Alex swallowed and forced the words out. “Kill her, eventually.”

Lena sat back in her seat and her eyes were grave as she took in the new information.

“How can I help? I’m afraid I’m not an expert on Kryptonian customs but I can get you Lex’s files, though I suspect you have more information that I do.”

Alex blinked. “You have Lex’s files?” She demanded. If someone else got that information, information that Lex had on Superman, then they could use it to hurt Kara.

“Of course,” Lena almost scoffed. “I wasn’t just going to leave those lying around. Some people might use them. But that isn’t why you’re here, Agent Danvers. How can I help? You obviously came to me for a reason.”

Alex took a moment to appreciate the intelligence of the woman opposite her. She was quick and to the point, and would probably make a phenomenal agent if she were ever to leave L-Corp. She would also, Alex thought, taking in what she knew of what Lena knew, make a terrifying enemy.

She had the mind and drive of a Luthor, the same ruthless determination and charm, but it was tempered, by what was obviously her birth mothers side. She was warm and kind and sweet, according to Kara, but Alex had to admit she hadn’t seen that side of Lena before.

“We found a way to negate the curse by re-writing it,” Alex offered vaguely, wondering if she could get Lena to agree to it without knowing what it was. She was willing to be vague and shady if it kept Kara safe, even if it was unethical and would mean Kara would never forgive her. As it was she doubted Kara would ever forgive her anyway. One didn’t go behind their sisters back and get them engaged without them knowing. Or at least, not twice in a row, and the second time being completely aware of it.

“You still haven’t told me how I can help,” Lena said shrewdly and Alex inwardly bemoaned and cheered the Luthor on. She was far too intelligent to be tricked into something so obvious and part of Alex was glad that she was so smart while another, smaller, part wanted to sob. If Lena didn’t agree then there was only one option, and she didn’t want to think about it.

“We want you to marry her,” Sameen said without fanfare and then blinked and shrugged when Alex spun around to confront her. “What? You were taking forever. We don’t have the time.”

Inwardly cursing, as she had wanted to ease Lena into it, she turned back to the CEO.

Lena had almost fallen back in her seat and was staring at Alex blankly.

“Miss Luthor?”

She was silent a moment, brain obviously processing and she blinked. Hard.

“Forgive me, Agent Danvers,” she said politely, and leant forward for her glass of water with a slight tremble to her hand. “I believe I misheard Sameen. Could you repeat that?”

You have to hand it to her, Alex thought to herself as Lena took a dainty sip of water. She was well composed and controlled for being so young. Outwardly she gave only the slightest sign of having heard Shaw’s words, and they would shock anyone, let alone someone who had formed a shaky alliance over a battle-ground with the enemy of her family.

“You didn’t mishear,” Alex sighed and almost slumped into her seat as Lena set her glass back down. Honesty was the best way to go. Maybe she could salvage this.

“We want you to marry Supergirl.”

Lena’s jaw moved and she wet her lips, gazing at somewhere past Alex.

“I see,” she said slowly. “Thank you for your honesty and clarity.”

 Alex winced, but she wouldn’t apologise. This was for Kara.

“I believe,” she said after a long moments thought, where Alex watched the clouds pass by Lena’s window in the distance, “you should tell me everything. Sam?” She asked of Shaw and Alex was momentarily gratified by how Sameen had glanced to her, her superior officer, for permission before speaking.

“CADMUS took Supergirl’s blood and Lex’s,” if Alex hadn’t been watching for it she would have missed the way Lena’s lip twitched at the mention of her brother, “and accidently bound them together. They had intended on the ritual killing her, but they didn’t translate it right. Because blood was used, its unbreakable, so we want- would like,” Sam corrected.

“-Want me to marry her as the Luthor blood runs through my veins. I’m, clearly, the better candidate than Lex,” Lena interrupted and concluded with little arrogance. She was correct. She was by far the preferred partner for Kara than Lex.

“Yes,” Alex said and ran her fingers though her hair.

Lena nodded a moment and slowly spun to face the window, and Alex wished that the glass were closer so she could see Lena’s reflection.

She was quiet for a long moment.

“How did this happen?” She asked after a few minutes. “Her blood? The ritual? If it were that easy then-“

“They took her blood when they caught her last time,” Alex interrupted. “When she met your mother,” she added and caught the faint stiffening to Lena’s back. She didn’t particularly enjoy speaking to someone’s back but knew that she had to Lena let be.

“The ritual?” Lena asked, voice clear and there was only a slight waver to it. “How did that work?”

“A family representative of each House had to agree to the union and speak the ritual in order to make the engagement official,” Alex said hesitantly. “CADMUS… your mother… used Lex’s blood and spoke the words, not knowing what they were meaning.”

“I find it hard to believe Superman agreed to sell his cousin to my brother,” Lena said dryly and Alex swallowed. Lena appeared to have a firm grasp on exactly what had happened, even with her limited information.

“No….. he didn’t….”

“Who then,” Lena asked, back still rigid and voice clear. If it weren’t for the tension in the room she could have almost mistaken them for discussing the view from Lena’s office. It was a nice view.

“An earth family member,” Alex said firmly, tone enforcing how unwilling she was to go into who that member was.

Lena’s head bobbed as she nodded slowly. “And they obviously, like my mother, had no idea of what they were doing.”

Alex nodded, even if Lena couldn’t see it. “Yes.”

Lena went quiet again and Alex fought the urge to fidget as she waited.

“So that’s why she’s been sick,” Lena commented and Alex stiffened.

“How do you know that?” She asked suspiciously. It wasn’t that Lena was a Luthor, or at least not entirely. Anyone with so much knowledge and power and an interest in her sister was a threat.

“Flying reports,” Lena commented off-handily. “I was going to speak with her as soon as I had a spare moment to see if I could help.”

“She’s better now?” Lena enquired and she had moved one arm to her arm rest and Alex watched the slow, predatory tap of her red-nailed fingers on the chair.

“For the moment,” Alex replied and then begrudgingly added. “Because her blood had been used, and Lillian had completed their side of the ritual, Supergirl was starting to get sick. A family member had to complete the ritual in order to seal their arrangement.”

“Why wasn’t this sorted before the ritual was complete? Why wasn’t it reversed? If this ritual is as powerful as you say, then why didn’t ancient Kryptonian’s capture their enemies and make them complete it?”

Lena made a valid point.

“Our sources tell us that it was an agreement between the Houses. And as two bloods had to be used it would sentence the other member to death. They could have broken it, but ancient Kryptonian’s heavily believed in the importance of their Houses.” Alex hesitated. “Both Houses had to agree to it, as far as we can tell. It could have been reversed if we had known.”

“Your brother was sick as well,” Shaw said calmly and approached the desk and Lena turned around to face her, but Alex thought it had more to do with who was speaking than her words. “From what we have gathered the only reason the ritual was done is to force two feuding Houses to get along. Each member would eventually die if the other didn’t go through with it. It’s a stale-mate.”

Lena’s dark green eyes didn’t leave Shaw’s as she continued to explain and Alex was caught by how the two appeared to know each other, or at least were familiar with how the other thought. “CADMUS sighed Lex’s life away when they used his blood and did their half of the ritual. They didn’t know that it would kill him too if they couldn’t get Supergirl to go through with it.”

“And the DEO didn’t know either,” Lena said and Alex ignored how Lena was aware of the DEO’s existence. She probably knew a lot more than she ever let on and would probably never tell them. Or she might, if Alex asked nicely. She could do nicely. Sort of. “Which is why Supergirl’s family accidently completed the ritual and engaged her to Lex?”

Alex gave a little nod. “Their engaged now, in Earth terms, but soon their health will start to deteriorate. They have to complete the Bond or they will both die.”

Lena snorted. “And you’re fine with marrying Supergirl to Lex? Let alone what he would think.”

Alex shook her head quickly. “No. That’s why we came to you first. I know you don’t want her to die.”

Lena’s gaze sharpened and Alex fought the urge to fidget under its weight.

“Do not presume to know what I want, Agent Danvers,” she said in a silky soft voice that didn’t conceal how deadly it was.

Alex bristled at the threat but didn’t say anything else, knowing she was blackmailing, or trying to black mail, Lena into it.

“What is this ‘bond’ you speak of?” Lena looked back at Sameen, and Alex clenched her jaw at the obvious dismissal. She was slightly gratified by how Shaw asked for approval before replying.

“We don’t know,” she said simply and Lena almost rolled her eyes. “It just mentions that a bond will form between the two to ensure they can’t harm each other, and to encourage their Houses not to hurt them. It was some way of keeping them safe.”

“Clever,” Lena inclined her head. “It’s an arranged marriage with a failsafe,” she mused. “Join the two Houses and make sure they can’t hurt the other house through the marriage by having their own blood on the line. Very clever.”

Alex hesitated a moment before asking the most important question of all. “So will you do it?”

Lena’s reply was a long moment coming. “No,” she said slowly and Alex felt her shoulders slump before her ire quickly replaced her defeat.

“Why not!?” She demanded. “K-Supergirl has saved you plenty of times! Why won’t you save her?”

Lena meet her gaze squarely, impassive in the face of her ire. “No,” she said firmly and reached for her pen. “See yourself out.”

Her dismissal was obvious and Alex knew she had no ground to stand on and gave a low growl of fury as she launched herself to her feet, placing her hands on the desk and leaning over Lena.

To her fury Lena appeared unbothered by her rage and met her stare head on and lifted a brow, and in that look she channelled how petty she found Alex’s rage, as though she were a child throwing a tantrum.

“So you’re just going to let her die, is that it?”

“You’re looking for a place to lay blame, Agent Danvers,” Lena said calmly and Alex wanted nothing more than to reach across the desk and shake her until she agreed or looked anything other than mildly disappointed with her. “It is not with me,” she said honestly and Alex grit her teeth. “I suggest you speak to Supergirl’s family. They were the ones who got her into this mess, or with my mother,” she suggested and made a mark on the paper in front of her before turning the page.

Having no other choice, and knowing that she wouldn’t-couldn’t-be backed up by her fellow agents if she tried anything, she slammed her hands down on the desk.

“You’ve sentenced her to death. I hope you know that,” she snarled before storming from the office, not caring how she looked. She had to blink back her tears of rage as she left and the assistant was blurry in her vision.

She registered Shaw, Brewster and Hill following her, but paid them no mind. Lena Luthor had as good as killed Kara, and she would never be able to forgive her for it.

~*~

‘ _Hey! You‘ve reached Kara Danvers! I couldn’t get to the phone in time, but leave me your name and number and I’ll get back to you. Thanks!_ ’

“Hey, Kara. When you’re free can you call me? It’s not urgent. I…just want to talk. See ya.” Lena pulled her phone from her ear and tried to focus on her work but gave up after reading the same sentence a half dozen times. What Alex had told her was still running rampant through her mind and it was so loud she couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

Coming to a decision she leant forward and pressed her intercom. “Jess. Please cancel the rest of my day.” She didn’t wait for a response before she went through her shutdown procedure but heard Jess agree as she was powering down her computer.

She gathered her belongings quickly and checked her phone in case she had missed anything. It was still blank, screen saver a generic picture of a mountain somewhere, and she shoved it into her bag.

Scanning the room she decided everything was shut down correctly and she strode across the room, noting the time, 1:10pm. Jess was likely thinking of ways to end her and she mentally vowed to revise her assistant’s Christmas bonus.

She was right. Jess looked frazzled at her desk and also very concerned as Lena strode past.

“Miss Luthor?” She made to stand and Lena waved her off.

“When you finish up go home for the rest of the day. Paid,” Lena instructed and Jess blinked at her and nodded.

“Is everything alright?”

Lena pressed her lips together and replied with a shrug. No, everything was not alright, but she could hardly tell her assistant that Supergirl’s people had asked her, demanded really, she marry the hero in order to save her life. Jess would probably send for the asylum.

“I’ll see you on tomorrow. Have a nice afternoon,” she called over her shoulder as she strode towards the elevators. The L-Corp secretary’s gaped at her as she strode past and one of them walked into her chair she was so surprised.

Maybe I should leave work early more often, Lena considered as she waited for the elevator, mindful of the stares at her back and the whispers about her departure.

She texedt Peter on her way down and knew he would be waiting outside for her. He was reliable like that. Digging her aviators out of her bag she wondered if she could get away with wearing headphones, but decided against it. Her image was hard enough to maintain as it was, she couldn’t go around ignoring the people as though she were better than them.

Whispers flew as she walked through her lobby and made her way down the steps, and there were a few paparazzi there, obviously wondering why the ‘FBI’ had visited her earlier, and she inwardly cursed Alex Danvers. She had more than enough to worry about without her visit spreading negative rumours. It was a headache PR could deal with. It was what she paid them for.

Pete was waiting at the curb and standing smartly in front of the car and he was quick to open the door for her. “Miss Luthor.”

“Hello, Peter,” she smiled as she ducked into the car and hid from the camera flashes.

He was soon around the side of the car and inside and pulling away from the curb.

“Where to, Miss Luthor?” He enquired as he pulled out into traffic. She could sense his questions, she never left work this early, and not on a weekday, but he was respectful enough that he didn’t ask.

“Just…. Drive. Please,” she asked tiredly, and in the safety of her vehicle she let her head fall against the headrest and closed her eyes.

Pete hesitated, she could almost feel his indecision, but he followed her instruction and started to drive.

He drove around aimlessly while he left Lena to her thoughts and she didn’t pay attention to where they were going, lost within the corridors of her own mind.

She felt the car pull to a stop though and finally opened her eyes curiously. There were parked cars around her and her eyes narrowed.

“Pete?”

He turned around to face her, eyes wide and earnest. “My wife,” he began, “when she was feeling lost or unsure she would always come here. She said it somehow put everything back in perspective. I just thought-“ he trailed off, as though finally realising how he had over-stepped.

Lena looked out the window but could only see trees. “Where are we?”

“NC’s world garden,” Pete replied with a smile. “Have you ever been?”

Lena blinked and looked out at the trees. “No…. I haven’t.”

She hesitated a moment before nodding to herself and opening the door.

Pete got out of the car as well and she could see him ringing his hands nervously.

“Pete?”

“I’d like to accompany you, Miss Luthor,” he said hurriedly. “If that’s okay? I’d prefer it if you were safe.”

She met his eyes for a moment and gave a little nod. “Are my clothes still in the trunk?”

“Yes!” He clicked a button and quickly moved around to bring them out. She usually had two outfits in her car at all times, one for business, and one for casual. They were in a case and he checked which one was which before pulling out her casual clothes.

 He handed them to her with a smile and then leant against the flank, keeping his back to her even though she had tinted, bulletproof windows.

She got changed in record time, not caring about how crinkled her clothes would be, and then emerged a few minutes later.

She was back in jeans and a hoodie and let her hair down before placing her aviators on her forehead. With her heels replaced by worn red chucks she looked like she could be ordinary; just a regular person visiting the garden, rather than one of the cities richest and most intelligent CEO’s.

The park was set out in an oval shape, or rather the path around it was, with smaller paths connecting the area’s between. Taking inspiration from people’s all over the globe, the National City World Garden was a carefully maintained garden with huge greenhouses and large water ways. Each of the green-houses were acclimatised to allow the perfect conditions for many rare plants and scrubs that could only grow in their natural climates. Large, unusual fauna from the Amazon down to the giant trees of New Zealand had all been acquired by the garden and carefully grown until the entire area, about thirty-seven hectares, was full of life.

There were little billboards next to the important trees and flowers and they explained their origins, when they flowered, what ancient peoples used or still used the plants for, and also some of the legends surrounding them.

Pete walked a little way behind her as she wandered slowly through the garden, taking in the sounds of birdlife and the scents. Sometimes it was sweet and flowery, like when she passed through the rose garden, but other times it smelt musty and earthy, signifying the giant trees above her.

She wandered for a long time, simply… being. It was as peaceful as Pete had said and she was finally able to settle her mind when she emerged out into the child’s-playground.

There was a little pool of water and some children were splashing under the careful eye of their parents, and other, older children were chasing each other over the bark and racing up the slides.

She took a seat a little away from them and sat down, Pete silently sitting at the end and giving her space but letting her know he was there.

Sighing she closed her eyes and leant back, letting the warmth of the sun, the laughter of the children, and the bubbling of the stream behind her quiet her mind.

Lena was a scientist at heart. She was ruled by her head, as much as her heart tried to get involved, and liked things to fit into boxes; even if some things had to be categorised later on.

Her…relationship, or working partnership, with Supergirl was…complicated. She had- willingly- sided with the hero against her mother and CADMUS. It was the right thing to do. It would always be the right thing to do. Regardless of race or species everyone deserved the same rights; rights to existence, to love, to equality. All of it. CADMUS was blinded by their hate. Lena was not. Yes alien’s and their technology were a threat, but only a few, she knew that. They had a right to call Earth home and not be prosecuted for it. That was what she believed. It was what Supergirl believed as well, and it was why they were on the same side.

From what the DEO had told her; and they hadn’t told her all that much, Supergirl and Lex had gotten, no matter how unwillingly or unknowingly, engaged to each other. There were two points to the engagement; blood and the spoken word. The first one was…. Impossible to deny. Blood was singular. Blood was binding; it was tied directly to the person (and their relations) it came from. And the spoken word, obvious as a ritual, was binding as well. Perhaps by using blood, and she was only guessing here, you could re-write the spoken incantation by overlaying it with blood, as she guessed blood had more power. But with both it was basically impossible to break. Lex and Supergirl would have to be married, by Kryptonian custom.

She spared a moment’s thought for her mother and the look on Lillian’s face when she realised she had married Lex to the alien she hated so much. The smile slid from her face. Lex’s files had a little bit on Kryptonian marriage and she knew it was life-long, only death would free either of them from their commitment. It had been one of the reasons she couldn’t agree to Alex Danvers’ demand, and it was a demand, and part of her was concerned with the agent’s retribution. Would Alex swoop so low as to ‘leak’ the information that Lena could have saved Supergirl? She didn’t know the agent well enough to judge, but knew people did impressive things when the people they cared for were at risk, and it was obvious Agent Danvers cared for Supergirl. Maybe she could ask Kara.

She was too lost in her thoughts to realise the children had gone quiet and Pete’s polite cough made her lazily open her eye.

Supergirl was hovering in the air above them. Wind was toying with her cape and running fingers playfully through her golden hair as she slowly lowered to the ground. There was a hesitant smile on her face and she lifted one hand in an awkward wave. She was looking healthier than she had last Lena had seen her, and that gave further proof to what Agent Danvers had said.

Lena straightened and felt her features closing down. Was the hero here to berate her for not wanting to save her life?

Supergirl frowned a little and her blue eyes turned searching.

“Miss Luthor?”

“Supergirl,” she responded and leant against the seat, trying to convey a comfort she didn’t quite feel.

The hero hesitated and landed fully on the ground, so light it was almost like she were asking the grass to part for her boots. Children had returned to their parents and were pointing, some were barely containing their desire to run to the hero and were being held back by the adults.

“Are you alright, Miss Luthor?”

Lena gave it a moments thought and lifted an eyebrow pointedly.

“Peachy,” she replied and a crinkle appeared between Supergirl’s brows. It was naggingly familiar but she couldn’t quite place it.

Supergirl was hesitant and glanced at Pete before looking back at Lena. “Might I sit?”

Lena sighed, so they were pretending everything was alright. “Don’t you have some place to be? A snake in a tree to rescue? A couple being intimate to interrupt?”

To her surprise Supergirl blushed immediately and shuffled her feet in a movement that couldn’t be anything but awkward.

Pete rose to his feet. “I’ll be over there, Miss Luthor.” Lena watched him leave as Supergirl floundered for words.

“You, um, er.”

“Kara Danvers told me of some of your... More unfortunate encounters,” Lena offered, unable to stop the small smile that graced her face. Supergirl took it as permission to sit down, and carefully sat at the end of the bench.

Many of the parents had their phones out and were no doubt videoing the interaction and she felt her good-mood sour.

“Y-eah,” Supergirl ran her fingers through her hair and Lena was momentarily caught by how the sun caught the blonde locks and lit them like spun gold. “That was something I’d rather not think of.”

Lena let a smirk curl her lips. “Yes,” she offered dryly. “I can’t imagine ploughing through a wall hearing my name called and finding a couple in the middle of a role-play.”

If possible Supergirl went even redder. “I just reacted, okay?!” Lena could even hear how mortified she was and felt a flicker of second-hand embarrassment for her. “I didn’t realise they were….” The hero cut herself off abruptly, mouth clamping shut like one of those fly traps.

“Having sex?” Lena asked with a brow arch, trying not to laugh. “Kara told me,” she said and decided to let the hero off.

“They weren’t- I didn’t see- it wasn’t my fault!”

“For what it’s worth,” Lena waited until the hero met her eyes. “I think the Supergirl outfit at Cherry and Honey is their best seller.”

Supergirl choked on her inhale and had an abrupt hacking fit. It was long enough for Lena’s amusement to fade and for her to look concerned at the hero. She was only able to make out a strangled stringing together of vowels.

“Are you alright?” She lifted a hand towards the hero and quickly clenched it and lowered it back to her side.

A raised palm in her direction was Supergirl’s response and she cleared her throat multiple times before straightening.

Lena related the way the Super drew her composure back to her to the way a leader would pull their strength around them and throw it out over their shoulders, as though their strength were a cape.

“I’m good,” she said, still sounding strangled and Lena nodded a little before looking back out over the park.

A few of the children had returned to their playing, keeping careful eyes on the hero, but many of them, and their parents, were still very curious about the two women on the bench.

“But really,” Supergirl said and sighed a little. “Is there a reason you aren’t at work?”

Lena lifted a brow, feeling tension curl its way down her spine. What game was the hero playing? Surely she knew she wouldn’t be able to work after being threatened, almost, into marrying her? She decided to wait it out and see what her game was.

“I needed some air,” Lena said carefully and gestured around her with a manicured hand. “To clear my head.”

To her surprise Supergirl was nodding in knowing agreement. “I get that,” she offered and gave a little shrug.

Lena lifted an eyebrow, knowing it was just like her mother and hating herself for it, but unable to fix herself of a habit so long ingrained in her.

“Sometimes I need to be alone too,” Supergirl said and lifted her shoulder again and it was such a _human_ move that Lena was thrown for a moment.

She swallowed her immediate response and gave it a few seconds of thought. Of course Supergirl needed some space. The entire city, and the world, wanted all of her, and she was giving as much of herself as she could, but with the rebuild she must have needed some time too. Lena was sure that she was the only one working harder than she was, and she hadn’t been responsible for the invasion.

“Thank you for what you told Kara,” she said abruptly, the words erupting from her lips without conscious thought and she inwardly cursed herself as she watched Supergirl react to them.

Surprise, caution, and then…. Gentle understanding. “You did the right thing,” she said knowingly and Lena had to swallow some emotion she didn’t have time for. But it looked like the hero had heard her breath hitch, or maybe the stammer in her heart, for she pressed her lips together in a soft, sad smile, and turned back to watch the children playing.

They sat there for a long moment, Lena, still trying to figure out when the hero was going to ask her why she didn’t agree to marry her and Supergirl; just content to watch the children and listen to their laughter.

“If I-“ Supergirl hesitated and the bench creaked with her movement. “If I had arrived on Earth and known I had a home to go back to-“she cut herself off abruptly. “You were helping someone who was lost and alone and scared and on an unfamiliar planet,” Supergirl said and Lena didn’t want to meet her eyes but she did. She made herself. “You were saving her,” Supergirl said simply. “Sending her home. That she wasn’t who she claimed to be isn’t on you. I don’t blame you for what happened. Nobody does-“ Lena opened her mouth to protest and sharp eyes froze her.

“No,” Supergirl said strongly in her heroic voice. “Anyone who blames you does not know you, or understand your motives. You were a hero then, Lena,” and Supergirl was smiling at her and oh, that was why most of NC’s lady-loving LGBT+ fawned over her. “And,” she said and ducked her head, “you are now too. No one can change that. No one can take back what you did. You’re a hero.”

She disagreed but it would be rude to argue with the hero after she had said such nice things to her. And if being a Luthor had taught her anything, it was how to take a compliment.

She inclined her head and let them fall back into silence, wondering still, even after Supergirl’s kind words, if she were here for that _other_ reason.

After a long moment of silence she finally lost patience and broached the subject.

“I wasn’t being completely honest with you earlier,” she said quietly and concerned blue eyes settled on her.

“I needed to think,” she offered, waiting for Supergirl to say something, to berate her for sentencing her to death. Instead the heroes face was open and friendly, more so than it normally was.

“Anything I can help with?” She sounded genuine and Lena paused. Was she really being so obtuse?

“No,” Lena said simply and shook her head. “I-just- need to make a decision and its difficult.”

The hero settled back on the bench and spread her arm along the top of it, almost close to Lena but not quite touching her.

“Business or personal?”

Lena nearly snorted. “Personal.”

The hero nodded for a bit and glanced a way a moment. “Love life?” she asked softly, almost whispering it and she darted a glance at Lena before glancing away again.

Lena shook her head. It certainly wasn’t her love life. She hadn’t loved anyone in years. The idea was…. Foreign.

“So, what’s the problem?” Supergirl asked and she was slightly more open now, compared to how she had withdrawn when she had asked about Lena’s non-existent relationship.

“Why do you-“ Lena hesitated and then rallied, waving her hand around to gesture to everything. “Why do you be you? Be Supergirl and save people?”

The hero blinked at her and then looked back at the children, her eyes narrowed in thought.

Lena absently traced her profile while she waited.

“I- I like to help people,” she said and gave a little shrug. And the innocence of the gesture couldn’t hide the ripple of power beneath it. “I- its all- its what I’m good at,” she said slowly, clearly thinking it through and Lena leant closer, eager for this glimpse into the heroes mind.

“I am able to help people, to save them.”

“And it’s not guilt?” Lena asked suddenly, wanting to know if that is what drove the hero to protect Earth. Guilt over the loss of her own planet.

Supergirl stiffened and her head spun around, eyes widening before they narrowed. Lena would have felt a ripple of unease but she had faced down her mother’s worst glares and Supergirl had nothing on her.

“Is that why you renamed L-Corp?” Supergirl shot back after she recovered from her surprise. “Is that why you stopped your mother instead of handing over the Medusa Virus?” She didn’t add Lena’s experiences with the Daxamite Invasion, they both knew her motivations for that.

Lena felt her jaw clench and felt an ignition of ire. How dare Supergirl question her reasons for what she had done? She bit back her instinctive response, knowing, by the glint in the heroes eye, that was what she expected. How could she accuse Supergirl of guilt when her own burdens were so heavy it felt like she would suffocate with it? Of course Supergirl understood. No one else in the city stood like Atlas more than she and Supergirl. They both carried the weight of the world on their shoulders.

She held her breath for a moment and then let it out slowly, letting her anger fade with it.

“Touché,” she noted and the hero relaxed next to her.

“We-people like you and me,” Supergirl said and Lena cursed herself for hanging on to her every word as though it were a life-line. “We do the things that other people can’t or won’t. We do it so they can sleep at night. We make the tough decisions, no matter the cost,” Supergirl continued and Lena could hear the bitterness to the words. “It’s what heroes do,” she finished and Lena could sense her resignation.

“We choose who we want to be, Lena,” Supergirl said and she tilted her head to the side as though she had heard something only she could hear. She rose to her feet and Lena realised that she had heard something only she could hear.

“We choose to be heroes, in our own little ways,” she was smiling gently down at Lena as she lifted from the ground. She hovered a moment, looking like some sort of Angel descended from the heavens to lead humanity to paradise. “And we accept the sacrifices we have to make. We can’t be anything less than what we are.”

She smiled down at Lena as though she could hear the way Lena’s heart was racing.

“El Mayarah, Lena Luthor,” she smiled and rose into the sky, taking a moment to wave at the children before she vanished. And Lena could only close her eyes and breath in the message Supergirl had bestowed. Hero’s did whatever they had to, whatever the cost, to make sure people were safe…and Lena… was a hero.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> Thanks for Beta-ing TV! Mwah!


	7. Chapter 7

“I’ll do it.”

Alex Danvers stiffened from where she stood at the entrance of National City’s DEO. The half dozen agents behind her waited patiently for her command while she blinked and tried to form thought.

“You-“ she paused and swallowed. “What?”

“Don’t make me say it again,” Lena Luthor snarled and she could detect a faint hint of hysteria in her tone, even though her features remained composed.

Alex waved the agents behind her off and the shuffle of their clothing and clunk of their weapons faded as they walked away.

“Clear Miss Luthor, Steve,” she instructed the head of security and he gave a little nod. “Tell J’onn to meet us in Con three,” she added and gestured for Lena to come closer.

The Luthor obeyed and followed her through the DEO halls with curious eyes but Alex could tell she was anxious by the way her shoulders were tight and how her fingers clenched and unfurled.

But still, she kept her spine rigid and walked smoothly along behind Alex, somehow making it seem like she knew where she were going, as though she weren’t being lead but were an equal. It was a clever trick and Alex made a mental note to try and acclimatise the move herself. It could be helpful in the future.

After ducking her head inside to make sure that conference room three was clear she held the door open for Lena and lifted her arm to guide the woman into the room.

A small part of her was both surprised and suspicious that Lena had shown up at the DEO and changed her mind, but the rest of her felt like it could fall in relief, a puppet free from its string.

She was also thankful that Kara was out in the city performing her duty while she was still able to. She had been resigned to having to marry Lex and though she didn’t want to talk about it Alex knew it weighted heavily on her mind…. But she also knew that Kara would never want Lena to do what she was about to.

“Can I get you anything while we wait?” Alex asked awkwardly.

As this wasn’t an interrogation and Lena was here of her own free will she didn’t know how to act. This was the woman who was going to marry her baby sister. The paper-work alone was going to be atrocious, unless they managed to get this under the radar and keep it there. J’onn would help with that. He could read Lena’s mind and see what she was after and why she was agreeing to help them after her earlier refusal.

Lena shook her head sharply once, jaw moving. “Cut the pleasantries, Agent Danvers,” she said stiffly. “I want this over as smoothly and as swiftly as possible.”

That she could understand. Alex didn’t exactly want to be forced to marry anyone and she could only imagine what thoughts were going on behind the Luthor’s impassive mask. She knew what Kara was like, she knew Supergirl, but Lena didn’t. Not really. She had no idea what she was actually getting in to and she must have been, at the very least, anxious. She didn’t know what was going to happen, what she would be expected to do for the wedding, ritual, and marriage itself. She was basically going in blind but she was doing it with her head held high, and Alex caught again, a flare of the woman Kara liked to gush about.

Silence fell heavily in the room and Lena had her phone out and was reading on it and Alex sat on the table and tried not to fidget. She and Lena weren’t on the best terms; they didn’t really know each other, and plus there was history there with Lena being a Luthor and of course Maggie arresting her.

She was very thankful to see J’onn enter but thought that perhaps a different skin he could have worn because Lena took one look at him, leapt to her feet and pointed her cell at him. Alex shot off the desk and looked concernedly at Lena as she pressed a button on the side of her phone and the back panel opened up to reveal a-was that a Taser in her phone?

“Hmph,” Alex folded her arms, impressed with Lena’s genius and wondered what else the woman had up her sleeve as J’onn lifted his hands peacefully.

Lena was eyeing him warily and Alex could see her confusion and then realised that Lena thought J’onn was Henshaw.

“Miss Luthor,” J’onn rumbled and remained where he was in the door, taking care to try and look as unintimidating as possible. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Lena’s eyes narrowed in response and her grip on her phone-turned-taser tightened and J’onn lifted his hands again.

“Don’t panic,” he said calmly, slowly and then, to Alex’s surprise, he morphed back into his true form.

Lena stiffened but watched it happen and the room suddenly seemed smaller with J’onn towering over them both.

“I am J’onn Jon’zz of Mars,” he rumbled and then, maybe seeing something in Lena’s mind, shrunk back down to human size and he was Henshaw again. Lena’s eyes were wide and her knuckles were white around the grip of her phone but she said nothing as she looked up at J’onn and Alex had to give her credit; she showed no sign of fear or even hate, just surprise that morphed into curiosity.

Lena hesitantly lowered her phone and her thumb moved and the cover over the taser slid back into place, disguising her taser as an ordinary cell phone once again. But then Alex considered that the woman before her was anything but ordinary, and she wondered what else she quietly did.

The atmosphere in the room relaxed when Lena did and J’onn slowly shut the door and walked to the end of the table and took a seat, a few chairs away from Lena Alex noted.

She pulled out her own chair, sitting at the corner of the table between J’onn and Lena and turned to her boss.

“Miss Luthor has agreed to marry Supergirl,” she said for Lena’s benefit but knew that J’onn probably already knew that. She knew she would get a talking too later, for going beyond their jurisdiction and speaking to Lena, and bringing some agents into it but if it saved Kara it was worth it.

J’onn sighed a little and then turned to Lena, whose chin came up under the attention and whose back straightened.

“Miss Luthor,” he began and folded his hands on the table in front of him, leaning forward slightly. “I understand Agent Danvers has informed you of the delicate situation Supergirl is in.”

Lena gave a little nod and her arms flexed with movement even as her hands were hidden under the desk. “Yes,” she said stiffly. “I have agreed to help,” she replied and Alex considered it was an odd way to word ‘getting married to an alien Superhero in order to save her from marrying my genocidal, xenophobic brother or death,’ but if that was how Lena was rationalising what she was agreeing to then Alex was more than okay with her helping out a friend.

Nodding slowly J’onn leant back in his chair and folded his arms. “I’ll go over it, if I may?”

Lena nodded once in response and J’onn started to explain.

“A few weeks ago CADMUS used Supergirl’s and Lex’s blood in an ancient and binding marriage ritual. They intended for it to kill Supergirl but their translation and understanding of the text was inaccurate.”

Lena’s back was straight and her features were clear and impassive as J’onn continued to explain to her what CADMUS had gotten her into.

“Instead of giving her a fate worse than death or something of the sort they bound both Lex and Supergirl, by using their blood and sealed it by speaking the incantation. A spell of sorts,” J’onn said and then he tilted his head on Lena before nodding as he’d read something in her mind.

“Because they used Lex’s blood and completed their half of the ritual the…bond… had already started to make itself known,” J’onn said slowly, clearly picking his words and Alex noted that he was being far more eloquent with the explanation that she had.

“They both started to get sick, and it would have killed them both if they had left it. There was an opportunity to break the union then, if we had known, or even if CADMUS had known, but we were unaware.”

Alex winced and shifted on her seat, feeling the guilt rise again. Kara hadn’t blamed her, but she still felt as though the guilt would swallow her whole.

“A member of Supergirl’s family accidently spoke the incantation out-loud and sealed the union, basically engaging Lex and Supergirl. It can’t be broken from this stage.”

“Agent Danvers told me,” Lena said calmly, clearly. Lena was cold and calm and it was… sort of scary at how quickly she had almost shut down. She was relatively emotionless, and it occurred to Alex that Lena was probably panicking on the inside by agreeing to go along with this but had closed down in order to protect herself. The fact that she was so good at it and knew how to would be something Alex could look into later, after Kara was safe, but it made her stomach tighten in unease.

Lena had been interim CEO of LuthorCorp since news of her brother’s final arrest had come through. The trial took years, so she must have only been twenty or so when she assumed control of her families company while the authorities saw to Lex. Alex knew the justice system, knew it wasn’t always swift and just, and knew that Lex had probably sat in some comfortable apartment or hotel under guard while Lena shouldered the weight he had left behind. She was only a kid, but Alex guessed she had always been ahead of her peers.

J’onn nodded. “We thought there were only two options; death or marriage, as the ancient Kryptonian’s had designed the binding, but Agent Danvers took two ideas and ran with it,” his voice lowered slightly and Alex winced and fought the urge to sink into her seat a little. His tone had barely changed but Alex knew he was unhappy with how she had gone ahead without checking in with him, or even Kara or Clark as they were actual Kryptonian’s, but she had seen a chance and had to take it. She wouldn’t apologise. Not for protecting Kara. It was her duty.

“What do you know about marriage on Krypton?” J’onn asked Lena politely.

Lena met his eyes for a moment and then proceeded to list everything she knew. It was mostly basic information, but was all accurate.

Kryptonian’s took husband and wife as a Match, and the Union of the two was to further the political power of the house, advance House relationships, or to join two Houses together. Each House had a duty to their House and the Houses they were joined to, but it was outweighed by each Kryptonian’s’ duty to their people. They served their House and each other. It was as political as a marriage could get and reminded Alex of how old English aristocrats must have married; for political gain or power. Love had nothing to do with it.

The procuring of offspring joined the DNA of the two and incubated the resulting child in a birthing matrix where they were able to select the biological markers to create a new Kryptonian that would become what Krypton needed of it. A designer baby on steroids.

There was no love between the Match, or there could be eventually, but that was unlikely, and they would remain Matched in name only, physical intimacy or even intellectual or emotional intimacy had little place in a Union. If the desire arose they were permitted to take Mates outside of the Match provided they were discreet and did not discredit their House in anyway.

Lena’s knowledge was thorough, she didn’t know any of the details of vows or intricacies of House politics, but she knew enough of what she was getting in to…. If only it applied for the blood marriage she was about to get into. The likelihood of it being the same millennium ago until when Krypton exploded were highly unlikely and she, and the DEO, were going in blind.

“You know a lot,” J’onn said surprised and Lena’s lips twitched.

“Lex was thorough,” she said shortly, cutting down that line of enquiry with little fanfare.

There was an awkward silence for a moment and Alex glanced between the two and worried her lip but kept quiet. This was for J’onn to handle. He could read Lena’s mind and find out anything he needed to and it would be easier for everyone involved, even if it were a violation of Lena’s privacy.

“You know then, that Kryptonian marriages can’t be broken in life,” J’onn said gravely.

Lena’s jaw rippled but she nodded, short and sharp, bird-like. “Yes. And I am still agreeing.”

J’onn met her eyes a moment and then carried on. “Agent Danvers thought that if we got you to marry Supergirl before she has to make the decision between death for her and Lex or marriage, that their union would be annulled. Instead the binding would go to you,” J’onn explained and Lena nodded again. Alex knew she already knew all of this, Alex had explained it to her earlier, but maybe not as openly as J’onn was.

“We want, if you agree, to do the ancient ritual with you and Supergirl. That way we hope that the first ritual will be overlayed by the second, and seeing as you and Lex share blood….” J’onn trailed off apologetically and Lena glanced at her lap before finishing.

“As a Luthor you are hoping that my parentage will work in the first ritual as Lex and I share a father, and by having my blood used in the second it will reinforce my…claim?….. to Supergirl therefore making Lex’s invalid.”

Alex tensed at the wording and J’onn had to subtly place a hand on her knee to keep her quiet.

“You are naturally the better choice.”

“Naturally,” Lena replied and her tone was brittle as cracked glass, waiting for the wind to touch it and then it would shatter.

“Our translations of the text, and our interpretation of it, have given us a few solid points to go off,” J’onn said calmly, voice rumbling in the room as he quickly carried on probably trying to get the information out as quickly as possible before Lena had a chance to change her mind.

“When you and Supergirl are Bound there will be some… failsafe’s… to make sure that you both remain as healthy and as happy in the Union as possible.”

The rigid line to Lena’s back grew ever more present and Alex wondered just how long she could maintain that kind of posture. She would probably give many of Alex’s fellow agents a run for their money.

“We understand that neither of you will be able to hurt the other,” J’onn said softly and his entire presence had… changed. He was softer now, gentler, stronger but not in a physically imposing way, in more of a guardian way, a protective way. It took Alex a few moments more to realise he was trying to protect Lena and make her feel safe, and the thought of it made her sit back in her chair in surprise. J’onn glanced at her a moment and then looked back at Lena.

“Whether that is physically, emotionally, or both, we aren’t sure. But if one of you were to hurt the other on purpose there would be negative consequences. We also know that you both will be… encouraged to make the match work. We think that means you will be more patient and understanding with each other, but we don’t know for sure.”

J’onn waited until Lena nodded slowly before adding. “We know that this is a life changing decision and we want to make it as easy as possible with as little disruption to your life as we can.”

Lena just nodded again. “How soon can we do this? I have other things that require my attention.”

Alex and J’onn blinked and J’onn was the first to recover while Alex’s surprise turned to ire. This was her baby sister she was talking about and she deserved more from Lena than just a ‘lets get this over and done with!’

“Of course,” J’onn said calmly. “When Supergirl returns we can discuss it further.”

Fortunately they didn’t have to wait long and it was only a few minutes later (of very painful silence) when Alex and J’onn’s radio’s announced Supergirl’s arrival at the DEO.

“Send Supergirl to Con Three,” J’onn rumbled into his walkie-talkie and a few moments later there was an affirmative response.

It was only seconds afterwards that Kara zoomed into the room and screeched to a halt when she saw Lena.

“Lena! Er, Miss Luthor!”

Kara’s surprise was obvious and she looked confused but beneath it all she looked happy.

“What are you do-ing here?” She asked as her surprise faded and then she just looked nervous, nervous as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have.

It was an odd look on the hero.

“We’ve found a way out of your marriage to Lex,” J’onn said and directed a hand to the chair. “Sit,” he asked and ducked his head slightly.

“Oh-kay?” Kara hedged and zoomed around the room to pull out a chair and sat, darting glances at Lena as she looked at J’onn and then at Alex in confusion.

“We want you to marry Miss Luthor,” Alex said quickly and Kara’s palms went through the table.

The silence after it was deafening and Kara blinked down at her hands and then at the two fists-sized holes in the table before looking sheepishly at J’onn, who just shook his head slightly in response.

“You,” Kara began haltingly, sounding the words out as though they were another language she was learning, “want me…. To  _marry_ Lena?!” Her voice rose into a squeak part way through Lena’s name and Alex winced slightly.

“I know I’m nobody’s first option but I didn’t realise the idea was so unbearable,” Lena said sharply and her voice slipped into a slight accent. She had bristled as soon as Kara had spoken and her shoulders were rounded as though they could protect her.

Kara blanched and half rose out of her chair. “No!” Her voice was loud, too loud, and echoed in the room. “No, that’s not what I meant! I didn’t mean it like that! I just-this was- you are-surprise-pretty-shock-kind um,“ Kara stopped gaping like a fish and spun on Alex.

“This was your idea to get me out of it?! Marriage?! To Lena?!”

Alex lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug, mouth parting as she tried to convey feelings she didn’t quite understand as Lena’s brow tightened and she looked between the two in confusion.

“I thought you knew!” Lena interrupted before Alex could respond and Kara’s head wrenched around to her, mouth falling open.

“And you _agreed_?!”

Lena’s features smoothened out from surprised and confused to carefully blank. “Of course,” she said calmly, spine straightening. “I don’t want your death on my conscious. Imagine what would happen to me if people found out I could save you and didn’t?” Lena hissed, voice turning cold and Alex shifted on her seat in discomfort as a slightly wounded expression crawled across Kara’s face.

“No,” she repeated and shook her head quickly. “I won’t do it. I’ll die if I have to,” Kara snarled firmly and Alex leapt to her feet. J’onn let out a sigh and sat back and let it play out. Alex knew that he would have wanted the entire situation handled better but she had made her bed and now she had to sleep in it.

“Don’t be _stupid_ , Supergirl,” she growled and placed her palms on the table as Lena sighed and slid her chair out. “You can’t marry Lex and you don’t want to die. The world _needs_ you.”

“Not,” Kara said quietly. “Like this. I won’t force Le-Miss Luthor to marry me.”

She turned her attention from Alex to Lena as Lena pushed her chair back under the table and slid her bag over her shoulder.

“You deserve more than me,” she said quietly, firmly, voice powerful but gentle. “More than whatever your reasons are,” Kara told her softly and Alex let out a sharp sigh. “You deserve someone who will carry a ring burning a hole in their pocket as they find the perfect moment or gather the courage to ask you to spend the rest of your life with them. Not a sham of a marriage. Not even to save my life,” Kara’s lips turned in a half smile and Alex slumped back in her seat, resigned.

She knew how Kara felt about marriage, how Kryptonian’s did in general. They took matches seriously and until death- but with Kara’s experiences on earth she had obviously altered her views a little. Willing to marry for love, a concept she had been absolutely aghast at when she had first arrived, but only to someone she loved and only with their complete devotion to her and she to them. It was romantic but also heartbreaking. The likelihood of Kara finding someone willing to see and love all of her was slim, and for her to love them in return?  The person worthy of Kara had to be singular and that person wasn’t Lena Luthor.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for Beta-ing TV :D Mwah!
> 
> Thoughts all?


	8. Chapter 8

Lena gave a little sigh as she lowered her now empty glass of scotch onto her desk and ignored the ring of water the glass had left on its surface. Idly eyeing the bottle she shut her eyes against the faint throbbing behind her temples. Deciding that no, she didn’t _need_ another glass, she slowly rose to her feet and snagged the bottle between her fingers and returned it to her liquor cabinet.

If she was slightly unsteady on her feet well, who was around to know or even care?

She made her way across the carpet and to her kitchen where she started to rinse the glass and her phone vibrated.

Glancing at the clock she wondered who could be contacting her this late. She took a moment to carefully dry her hands, perhaps paying more attention to the task than she usually would as her head was a little fuzzy, and then picked up her phone as her screen went blank.

She thumbed the identification and held the camera up to her face, letting her own facial recognition software confirm her identity before she tapped in a password.

Her best friends name was simply under ‘Kara’ in her cell and she opened the message quickly.

‘ _Hey! Did you want to get breakfast tomorrow? Noonan’s at 8?’_

Smiling slightly at her screen she responded with an affirmative and then glanced at the clock.

‘ _What are you doing awake? Is everything okay_?’

She didn’t have to wait very long for a response and was closing her curtains to the amber light of the city below when her phone vibrated again.

‘ _I’m doing okay. Just have a lot on my mind_.’

Lena hesitated as her thumb hovered over the phone icon before pressing.

‘ _Hey, Lena_.’

Kara answered almost instantly and her usual zeal for life was gone and Lena instantly knew something was wrong and was glad she’d called.

“Hey,” she replied and tapped the speaker button on her phone as she moved about, preparing for bed. “What’s on your mind? Is there anything I can help you with?”  She mentally ran through any of the issues she thought Kara could have and decided whether or not she could fix them as she removed her shirt.

‘ _No_ ,’ Kara sighed and there was a shuffling down the line. ‘ _It’s just… been a hard day…. Month…. Year_.’

Lena made a quiet noise of agreement as she unfolded her pyjamas from beneath her pillow.

“Did you want to talk about it?” She enquired as she pulled her pyjamas on and padded silently into the bathroom, taking the phone with her and setting it on the vanity.

Her bathroom was sleek and modern and she squinted in the bright light before switching them to a warmer light.

Her ensuite had two sinks set into a wooden bench before a large mirror. At the end there was a bath set into the marble floor and in the corner there was a large shower with a toilet next to it. She had a handsome wooden cabinet set where she kept her spare toiletries and towels and there were large windows above the bath that gazed out over the city. They were bulletproof, of course, and with the press of a button could turn tinted and reflective.

‘ _No, I’m okay_ ,’ Kara replied slowly. ‘ _Thanks though_.’

Lena nodded in the mirror. “Well, I’m here if you need me.”

‘ _Mh hm_ ,’ Kara hummed in acknowledgement as Lena wiped away her make-up, and with it her armour. She looked exhausted, she noted absently as she set about patting her face dry and applying her nightly moisturising routine.

She was placing toothpaste on her toothbrush when Kara spoke again. ‘ _Have you ever thought about getting married?’_ Kara asked suddenly and Lena nearly choked on her own spit and coughed a little too clear it.

Her stomach curled in unease, recalling the highlight of her conversations today and her grip tightened on her toothbrush.

“What?” She demanded hoarsely and Kara’s voice returned, a little alarmed if she were to judge.

‘ _Are you okay_?’

“I’m fine, Kara,” she replied and made an effort to clear her airways a little more quietly. Her heartrate was thudding in her ears nervously and she swallowed as a thought struck her. What if Supergirl had told Kara about what was going on with her, and how Lena had basically agreed to marry her to save her life?

“Why do you ask?” Even to her own ears her voice sounded false and light, but Kara, thankfully, didn’t comment on it.

Kara sighed. ‘ _A man I interviewed_ ,’ she replied and Lena felt herself deflate in relief as she continued. ‘ _He lost his wife in the invasion. They’d been married sixty-three years… I could see how much he loved her in his eyes and I just- have you ever wanted that_?’

Lena took a moment to consider the question and examined the dollop of toothpaste as it sunk onto the bristles of her brush.

“I-once,” she said slowly after a long moments thought. “I thought that, maybe, I’d find someone and we would settle down and, maybe, have some kids, eventually, and live happily ever after,” her voice rose in scorn as she neared the end, and she shook her head at the naivety of her younger self.

Kara, however, didn’t seem to find her fantasy foolish, and her voice was quiet and thoughtful and sorrowful as she asked, ‘ _Jack_?’

Lena’s throat tightened in reminder and she bit out a response, forcing the emotion down. “Yes.” She wet her toothbrush and started to ferociously brush her teeth, not caring for how her gums would throb afterwards, she needed to feel something other than the encompassing loss that threatened to consume her.

Kara was quiet for a moment, processing, and then, ‘ _would you ever consider it again_?’

Lena took a moment to spit and rinse her mouth as she thought of a response. Truthfully no, she had never thought she would get married after Lex. She had resigned herself to marrying her work and devoting the rest of her life to restoring her families name and righting the wrongs her brother had made, but, sometimes, when the nights grew cold and her house was silent and empty she would long for someone to come home to. Instead of a chill air to her penthouse there would be the warm scent of freshly baked cookies and someone dancing by themselves in the kitchen as they washed the dishes. There would be ‘family’ photos dotted about the room and there would be a second toothbrush in the holder and another towel and someone else’s scents lingering on her sheets. Her bed would be warm and someone’s arms would be wrapped around her.

Recently the person in her fantasies had taken physical form; a woman with honey blonde hair and bright blue eyes and a soft, shy smile, Kara. But that could not and would never be, so she had forced those brief dalliances to the furthest corners of her mind and locked them there, never to be thought of again. Though she seemed to break that mental promise every time she came home and had to turn on the lights, close the curtains, and slide alone into a too-big bed.

“Not anymore,” she answered as she rinsed her toothbrush and flicked the excess water from it before setting it back in its holder. It was lonely there, surrounded by a trio of holes and Lena scowled at it.

Kara was a curious person by nature, it was what made her such a good reporter, as well as her determined nature, and both, along with her bright heart, were reasons Lena called her a friend. She had sort of been dragged into friendship with the bubbly reporter by a bright smile and a soft, quiet understanding, and she hadn’t been able to look back.

‘ _Why_?’

It wasn’t a cruel question, in fact it was asked with a gentle curiosity as though Kara already suspected the answer but wanted to hear Lena’s view on it.

“I hardly have the time,” Lena answered and ran her fingers through her hair a moment. Her fingers tangled and she frowned a little. She really needed to give it a brush before bed and did so quickly.

‘ _Fair_ ,’ Kara’s voice replied, ‘ _but I don’t think that’s the real reason? You don’t have to tell me_ ,’ Kara continued quickly, as though afraid she had over stepped and wanted to rectify it immediately. Kara had taken great care with Lena on the journey to friendship; often afraid of stepping over boundaries and saying, doing or asking for something Lena was unwilling to give. But Lena’s boundaries were as formidable as mist when it came to Kara.

Somehow the woman sailed through the rampant seas around the island Lena had fortified herself on. She’d eased herself past the rocky shore with its jagged teeth and tearing seas. She strode through the dark forest surrounding her home and navigated the perils of the earth and beast with the familiarity of someone long at home in the woods. She’d stroked the nose of the crocodiles patrolling her moat and had waved the drawbridge free. Instead of soaring over the walls of the keep, or even pounding upon them until they bowed in exhaustion, she had smiled at the gatekeeper and the portcullis had rattled and groaned as it was lifted into the stone walls. Kara had walked past every defence Lena had with the grace of someone coming home, and Lena, alone in her tower, both self-imposed and as an outcast, didn’t know how to handle her.

 “I- after Lex,” she began slowly and turned the light out, letting the light from above her bed guide her forward in the dark room. “I-,” she let out a long sigh as she settled into her mattress, flicking off her lights in the process. Her sheets were cold but soft, the contrast suddenly biting after her day and she swallowed emotions rising as she could feel her eyes sting.

“I had always thought Jack and I would- and then,” she swallowed in quick succession, blinking rapidly.

‘ _Lex_?’ Kara asked quietly. And she wondered if her friend was sitting in the dark as well, illuminated by the light of the city coming in through her windows and by the warm glow of her phone screen.

“Lex,” Lena agreed. “No one wanted to know me. After,” she said stiffly and she swallowed again, feeling her eyes grow wet. It was still a sore spot for her, and always would be, even if she didn’t blame the people. People went from smiling at her in the LexCorp labs to not meeting her eyes and scurrying away from her like she were contagious. Stranglers on the street spat at her and others still would curse her and get in her personal space and vow retribution. Her car was tagged and had its windows smashed, and had written in red paint, a threat of her being next. Her house was surrounded by paparazzi twenty-four seven and even Jack’s mother was followed to and from the store for information.

Eventually she had left him for his own safety and had locked herself in one of the Luthor owned hotels, trusting in the security and the fact that a Luthor payed their wages to keep the hordes away from her. As it only got worse she and Jack had broken it off completely, as she had taken the reins of LexCorp while her brother was detained and her mother was trying to get him free, and Jack had asked her to choose him. Him or her family. It hadn’t been a choice she could make, so he had made it for her. And left Lena alone, in control of a multibillion dollar company, hundreds of businesses, and with the livelihood of tens of thousands depending on her decisions.

She had been twenty. But she had shouldered the mantel of interim CEO while the stocks plummeted and Lex remained tucked away as evidence was gathered on him. Three years later and she had kept the company floating, barely, as Lex was sentenced and she had become the official CEO. Needing to get out of a city that loathed her, and whose walls were converging, she had made the decision to move the headquarters of LexCorp to National City, the only major city close enough with a suitable building and laboratory to host her. Of course not a week later Supergirl had to throw a spanner in the works by carrying a plane over a bridge, but she had already begun the move and couldn’t turn back. So to National City went LexCorp, and with it Lena Luthor. Fate had a twisted sense of humour. The sister of Superman’s notorious enemy moving to the city his cousin called her own. The irony wasn’t lost on her. But to her surprise she and Supergirl had been able to work together and even save the city on multiple occasions, and she could almost call the woman a friend. Almost. The coveted title of friend remained with Kara Danvers, though Lena was starting to learn you could actually have more than one. Wonders would never cease.

“And I chose L-Corp over love… and any chance at it,” Lena said, turning her thoughts away from her darker past. “I’m far too busy to even consider a date, and I don’t know who would want to date me.”

Kara’s support was something she could always rely on, and even though her self-loathing wasn’t aimed at drawing a supportive response from her friend, Kara came through.

‘ _Lena_ ,’ she groaned, and Lena didn’t fight her smile. ‘ _You’re being stupid. People who aren’t willing to see past your last name and see you for the wonderful person you are aren’t worthy of you or your tim_ e,’ Kara said frankly, and Lena could picture her frowning at her cell and the crinkle deepening her brow as she got ready to defend Lena. It made something warm flutter in her chest.

‘ _You’re brave and kind and generous and no matter what the world throws at you, you just get back up and keep going. You’re the strongest person I know! You’re still kind and caring and, Lena, that makes all the difference in the world! You’re warm and gentle and sma-well, obviously not that smart because you don’t think you’re worthy of-of_ ,’ she could picture Kara’s frown as she tried to find the words to convey just how foolish she thought Lena was being.

Kara trailed off with a growl and then let out a huge sigh. ‘Y _ou’ll find someone, one day, who sees the woman I see. And they’ll never be able to turn away._ ’

A faint choked noise cracked at the back of her throat and wiped away the tear that ran down her cheek as she blinked away more.

A simple thankyou was all she could manage in response and they were quiet for a while.

“I always pictured a proposal in Pairs or Greece or somewhere romantic,” Lena said in a hushed whisper, as though afraid someone would hear her confession. “A wedding on the beach…. Nothing fancy just- ,” she hesitated and let out her breath in a long sigh. “Just me and someone who loved me… and we’d have kids, the dog, the fence, and we’d grow old together still as in love as the day we got married…I guess it sounds silly.”

‘ _No_ ,’ Kara replied instantly, and she, too, was speaking quietly. ‘ _I don’t think that’s silly. I think it sounds beautiful. Being in a beautiful place surrounded by the people who love you…. I don’t think that’s silly at al_ l.’

Lena turned on her pillow and nuzzled into its softness, and, because she had such a high opinion of herself, ruined the mood. “Guess there’ll be no family on one side of the isle for me….” She snorted a little at the thought and forced down the pressure building in her chest. “I wonder if Lex would try to stab me with the cake knife?” She wondered out-loud and angrily wiped away the tear that forced its way from between her lids.

‘ _Lena_ ,’ Kara’s voice was gentle and Lena sniffed quietly into her pillow as another tear fell. There was nothing Kara could say to make it feel better, to ease the ocean of pain and loneliness she sometimes felt like she was drowning in.

‘ _I’ll be there_ ,’ Kara’s voice was strong and powerful even if spoken with a whisper. ‘ _I’ll be there_ ,’ she said again when Lena’s heart leapt. ‘ _I’ll help you pick a dress and a venue and squeal over the proposal and try cakes with you_.’ Lena chuckled and Kara’s voice lightened as she continued, but it was no less firm.

‘ _I’ll go to dress fittings and help you pick invitations and help you get the venue you want and cry at the wedding and make terrible jokes and drink my weight in wine_.’ Kara paused a moment and then her voice came fierce. _‘‘I’ll walk you down the bloody isle if I have to_ ,’ she vowed and Lena sniffed as another tear fell and her choked laugh was smothered by her tears.

Kara hesitated and then her voice was gentle and soft and soothing as she vowed, _‘I’ll be there for you. I promise_.’

Her confession hadn’t meant to be voiced, and if anyone had ever asked she would swear that it had only been spoken by the lone woman atop the tower, surrounded by cold stone and coloured windows, speaking to the stars, the only ones who would listen, “I love you.”

Kara’s sharp inhale was heard and Lena’s heart raced as she realised she had spoken and she held her breath waiting nervously for Kara’s response.

Her breath came through the phone in a swift exhale and then Kara laughed shakily but her words were strong. ‘ _I love you, too_ ,’ she replied and Lena felt her entire body relax into the bed, relieved she had not ruined their friendship or put her foot in it.

Lena yawned as Kara settled and Kara’s smile could be heard through the phone. _‘I’ll let you go to sleep now_ ,’ she said gently and Lena yawned again.

“But-but,” she blinked a little. “We didn’t talk about you and how you are doing.”

Kara’s smile was again obvious. ‘ _I’m okay, Lena. Talking helped_.’

Lena smiled sleepily into her pillow as her heart fluttered softly.

“Mhkay. Night, Kara.”

‘ _Night Lena. See you tomorrow_.’

Lazily Lena brought her thumb up to her phone. “See ya. Bye.”

She tapped the end button and a picture of her and Kara, arms around each other and beaming at the camera with the park behind them, was the last thing she saw before sleep claimed her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Kudos and Comments! They make me smile :D
> 
> -Also, wasnt Lena Luthor looking like a tasty snack in this weeks episode? Tumblr appreciated it... and so did I ;) 
> 
> Thanks TV for Beta-ing :D


	9. Chapter 9

 “You’re taking this the wrong way,” Kara sighed and flopped back down on the couch as Alex glared at her from the chair by the window.

“Taking this the wrong way,” Alex repeated and Kara winced. Alex’s voice was clear and concise, her words forming precisely as though she were teaching the language to a non-native speaker, and her tone was lifted in a way that Kara knew spelt trouble.

“Yeah,” she replied and turned her head to look at her sister as she seethed over by the window.

The light of the morning sun was toying with the natural accents in Alex’s hair and giving her a sweet halo. Her leather jacket lifted as she groaned in frustration and grabbed at her hair. She winced and soothed it and then fixed Kara with a stern glare.

“You’re going to die, Kara,” she hissed and her voice cracked as she added, “And we can save you!”

Kara shook her head again. She and Alex had been repeating this exact conversation, with various alterations to dialogue, for the past few days- ever since Lena had shown up at the DEO with a way to save Supergirl.

Alex was sceptical and already planning ways to contain Lena if she were to ever to turn on Supergirl, and most of them involved keeping her in a hole somewhere, somewhere she couldn’t get to Supergirl. Kara wasn’t willing to marry someone who didn’t love her, even if it could save her life. She especially wasn’t willing to have that person be Lena. It wasn’t the lack of love on her end that was making her so reluctant. On Krypton a Mate would have been chosen for her from a pool of worthy people and her Head of House, her uncle Jor, with input from her parents, would have approved the worthiest match to bring glory to their House. Love, the kind that humans married for, was a foreign concept. Kryptonian’s didn’t have it, or at least didn’t marry for it. Love didn’t bring power to your House, only a suitable Match did.

No, she was more concerned with Lena. After her conversation with her a few nights before she had gone to bring it up again but Lena had been determined to avoid the subject entirely and changed the topic every time Kara brought up wedding or marriage or even kids and so Kara had sat back and given it some thought.

Lena didn’t love Supergirl, in fact she didn’t think she was in love with anyone at the moment, so she was only agreeing to the marriage to save Supergirl. But… Lena didn’t know what would happen to her, or to the both of them. The Bond was not something to be trifled with, that much had been made clear in the translations Kara had seen, even if she didn’t know what it would entail.

Lena needed, no she _deserved_ , someone who wanted to marry her for the wonderful woman she was, and Kara felt like it was going against everything she was to marry her best friend as someone else.

And that had caused some less than amicable discord between her and Alex as well. Kara wanted to tell Lena, sort of. She wanted her best friend to know all of her but she was also reluctant to do so, even without the mess of her impending death rapidly approaching, because telling Lena would change their relationship. She was certain of it, certain of it because whenever anyone found out about her they treated her differently. No one treated her like Kara, they treated her like the hero she was, they treated her like Supergirl.

Lena, though, Lena was different. She looked at Kara as though she were the hero, as though a girl with a pony-tail and glasses, and a reporters pad could and would change the world. Lena believed in Kara, and Kara wasn’t willing to change that. It was selfish of her, she knew that. Lena had more than earnt the right to know about her past, her last name didn’t factor into the equation anymore, but Kara couldn’t risk the one thing, the one person, that made her feel normal. Like Kara Zor El. Kara Danvers was a mix between the Superhero and the alien that hid herself as a human. Lena Luthor made Kara Zor El feel powerful, feel special, feel…. Normal. Lena made Kara feel like she was home, or as close to it as she could get and she couldn’t give that up.

Plus, Lena was likely to be furious and betrayed and Kara didn’t want to face that, didn’t want to be the one to hurt Lena that way.

Alex just wanted her to keep her mouth shut, and so did the DEO, but there were at least two parts to their reluctance, and to her immense displeasure Lena’s last name did factor into it. It was dangerous for anyone to know her civilian identity, and doubly dangerous for a _Luthor_ to know it. Though how they just let Winn make James a suit and let him use the DEO as a base was entirely different, of course.

But back to her primary concern- Lena deserved to marry someone who loved her and who she loved in return. And while Kara loved Lena, she was her best friend after all, Lena didn’t love her in that way, or rather didn’t love Supergirl in that way. Lena had only offered to save her because it was the right thing to do, though Kara suspected Alex had some sort of influence over that and mentally promised to make sure Alex didn’t do anything to Lena in retribution, especially as it was Kara’s decision to make.

“I don’t want to marry her, Alex,” she let out a long sigh and curled into the couch cushion. “She doesn’t love me, Supergirl,” she corrected seeing Alex’s eyes narrow. “I don’t- I don’t want to marry someone who doesn’t love me,” she added and frowned a little in thought. It went against her Kryptonian beliefs but she had adopted many of earths after her arrival, and falling in love and living with someone who loved her like she loved them was one of them.

Alex was quiet for a long moment. “Don’t you think you deserve a chance at it?” Alex asked carefully and Kara felt her brows curl in confusion.

“I mean,” Alex added slowly, “If you’re dead you’ll never get that chance...”

Kara sat up and faced her sister, feeling her crinkle deepen. “But if I’m bound to Lena then…”

“Then you have the chance to live… and to love,” Alex said and lowered her head, trying to look up at Kara even though they were virtually at eye level. “And what about Lena?” She asked gently and Kara blinked in confusion.

“Not only is she going to think she wasn’t worthy, of anyone, she’s also going to lose her best friend… and find out about you at the same time.” There was a moment’s pause and Alex ran her fingers through her hair and gave a shaky laugh. “Does she even have anyone else?”

Kara’s hands went directly through her couch as she launched herself to her feet and stared down at Alex as the magnitude of it hit her.

Lena…. Lena didn’t have anyone else, not really. She only had Kara. She felt her shoulders slump in realisation.

If she let herself die, and avoided marrying Lena and binding herself to her forever, then Lena… Lena would be alone. She would lose her only friend in National City, and maybe even in the world. And Lena had lost so much… Kara wasn’t blinded by how weary she was in that regard. She had offered her heart time and time again and had it torn out and stampeded on. Kara felt her heart clench at the thought of it. Lena probably wouldn’t let anyone in again, it was a miracle she had let Kara in, and losing Kara would probably beat an already beaten and exhausted woman further and Kara…. Didn’t want to be the reason for that.

“She doesn’t think she’ll ever have anyone else,” Kara said slowly as she lowered herself back onto her couch and winced at the two holes next to her. Telling Alex this was a bit of a breach of Lena’s privacy, not that Alex probably couldn’t figure it out on her own, but Alex was her sounding board. Everything important, bar shouldering a plane, went by Alex. Alex was her anchor.

Nodding slowly Alex took her words in. “Because she’s a Luthor,” she said knowingly and then her head tilted to the side in thought.

Kara lowered her body and rested her arms on her knees, keeping herself upright. She inhaled deeply; smelling her own shampoo and body wash as well as the slightly smoky scent Alex enjoyed wearing.

“Do you want to die?” Alex asked quietly, and there was something desperate and dark in Alex’s eyes when Kara glanced up.

She shook her head quickly and Alex relaxed, sinking down into the chair and letting out a relieved sigh.

“You don’t have to be Supergirl to save people,” Alex began slowly and Kara watched as her sister seemed to mouth the words before she spoke them and it occurred to her that Alex was choosing her words with great care. “You can just be you,” she told her, eyes slightly lowered from Kara’s own, but she knew that Alex was speaking directly to her.

“But you… Supergirl is a part of you,” she said, obviously changing what she had been going to say. “Saving people is a part of you. Its who you are, Kara.” There was a half smile on her sisters’ lips, bittersweet but also proud.

“You get yourself into trouble while helping people.”

Kara nodded, wondering what angle Alex was aiming for.

“Lena does the same,” she said with a slow nod of her head and Alex’s nod was sharp and birdlike in agreement.

“Yes,” Alex said and then she was back to carefully sounding out her words. “You can’t help anyone if you are dead,” she said calmly, and it struck Kara that she was using her ‘customer service’ voice back from when she worked behind the counter at one of the surfing/café shops in Midvale. Kara felt her lips twitch but then caught up with what Alex was saying.

“I don’t want to marry Lena to save my life,” she frowned over at Alex, repeating herself for what felt like the fiftieth time.

“And what about the lives Supergirl saves? What about the people she inspires?” Alex said quickly, letting go of her careful words and leaning forward, dark eyes intent.

“Would you marry her for that? For the people Supergirl will save? Because that’s what Lena has offered, that is why she is agreeing. She sees the big picture.”

Kara felt her brow tighten. Was that why Lena had agreed? She hadn’t actually asked her. She’d just said no and then left. Lena was probably feeling rejected about the entire affair, but she had been the person to agree, and Kara had learnt that Lena wasn’t one to bow to another’s whims so easily, no matter how persuasive Alex may have been. So if she was going to agree to marry Supergirl then she actually must have wanted to, even if her reasons were her own.

“Your dating life is virtually non-existent, for the both of you,” Alex pointed out, obviously gaining traction. “So that isn’t the issue and, well,” Alex hesitated. “Without authorisation from the Head of House you’re….”  Alex trailed off and lifted a shoulder in a helpless shrug, but Kara knew what she was talking about.

Kara’s desire for companionship was not a driving factor of her psyche. She had no urge to mate, as that desire had been bred out of Kryptonian’s long ago, but simply enjoyed being physically close to someone she cared for. Desire, or what the humans called desire, didn’t register with her on a personal level. She enjoyed some people’s forms, objectively, but had nothing of what humans described desire being as. It was one of the many reasons she had felt so alien in high school when hormones were flooding the hallways, and Kara just walked though it unaffected. She simply wasn’t interested in a mate, not for the physical aspect of it at least.

She would like a companion, one who understood her, or at least tried to, but knew the chances of it were highly unlikely. Her dating pool consisted of her friends who knew who and what she was and no-one else. Dating someone as Kara, as she had found out with Adam, was too risky and far too difficult. She wanted to let go of her burdens with a companion, not hide the fact she carried them. So, no, Kara probably wouldn’t be dating even if she somehow got out of the mess CADMUS and Alex had gotten her in to.

And Lena, well, Lena’s thoughts on her own potential love in the future were… well.. she didn’t believe it was happening any time soon, if ever. Which was sad because Lena was an amazing person and she deserved all the happiness and love in the world.

“She doesn’t think anyone could ever love her,” Kara confessed on the tail of a sigh and Alex tilted her head.

“Which is so stupid,” Kara continued with a growl and sat back with a huff. “Because she’s so beautiful and kind and sweet and smart and generous and she’s actually really funny, in a dry, sarcastic way. “

Kara missed Alex’s raised brow and slightly tilted head as she continued. “And she’s like, she’s warm and gentle and she just wants to help everyone. She’s shy and sweet and I just-I want to keep her safe, Alex! I want to protect her because she keeps getting into trouble and she doesn’t deserve it and I’m terrified that one day I’m not going to get there in time!”

She let out a long sigh and absently noted that she needed to clean her ceiling as she tilted her head back.

“I just- I want someone to take care of her, and keep her safe, and love her. She deserves it.”

And then Alex went and threw a wrench in her plans of not marrying Lena Luthor to save Supergirl’s life. And all it took was a few words.

“Who better to love her than you?” Alex asked quietly and Kara’s heart froze.

Her head snapped up and she wrenched herself forward as Alex continued.

“You’re both going to be alone, according to you,” Alex said with a pointed lift of her brows. “Why not be alone together?”

Kara blinked a moment and then made a conscious decision to close her mouth.

“You would take care of her and keep her safe, and you already love her,” Alex said and her eyes were soft and warm. “You might not ever be in love but there are worse fates than marrying your best friend.”

Alex hesitated and shifted to place her leg over her other one. “She could do worse than you, much worse.” She lifted her shoulder in a little shrug while Kara struggled to process what Alex was saying. “She doesn’t lose her best friend, gets a steadfast ally who’ll be there for her always, and you don’t die. I…. don’t see a con here.”

Kara gaped at her sister. Was Alex basically telling her that marrying Lena Luthor was a good idea when she was so wary of anything Luthor to start with?

“What?” Her voice was strangled and she cleared it to repeat herself. Her heart was thumping powerfully in her chest and her throat was dry. “What?”

“I’m just saying,” Alex said and lifted her hands peacefully for a moment before leaving them on her calves. “Although she is a Luthor and we will have to have contingency plans for that, she is the only free one and with ready access to massive resources. From the DEO point of view, binding her to you negates her threat, she can’t hurt you without hurting herself- not that she would,” Alex said quickly, obviously seeing Kara’s features twist into annoyance.

“But this means she can’t be forced to hurt you. Also,” Alex continued quickly, obviously seeing Kara’s interest in the thread of conversation fade. “She keeps Kara Danvers and Supergirl alive, and she keeps her friend. She also gets someone who she knows can never leave her or hurt her and will at the very least respect her. It’s not a bad trade off, Kara. Not for her. And she agreed,” Alex said and she’d placed both feet on the floor and had leant forward.

Kara hugged one of the couch cushions to her chest as Alex’s dark eyes kept her caught and held her. “She was willing to save your, to save Supergirl’s life by doing this, and she doesn’t know what sort of consequences it could have, but she agreed anyway. Because she believes in you, Kara,” Alex’s voice was low and soft and serious. “She believed in you, in Supergirl and the woman behind the ‘S’, enough to go blindly into this. To keep you safe. To keep you protecting people. And you’re just wanting to quietly die so that, what- you don’t marry your best friend?” Her voice had lifted at the end, until it cracked with emotion and Kara sighed and leant forward.

“I’m just-“ Alex sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m trying to understand, Kara.”

Kara hesitated, still reeling from Alex’s words, and gave it a moments thought.

“Its not- I don’t-“ she paused and sighed and sank back into the couch, feeling the weight of the world pull her shoulders down. “Lena has…. Strong ideas about marriage and this… marry me-Supergirl… it goes against them all,” she said finally, trying out the words as she spoke them, trying to sound it out to Alex and to herself.

Alex was nodding slowly as she spoke, “Is she a homophobe then?” She asked, a furrow to her brow and it looked like she was thinking something through.

Kara shook her head quickly. “No!” She nearly yelped, not wanting Alex to think poorly of Lena. “No,” she added, “or at least I don’t think so?” She gave it some thought, brow creasing. “It hasn’t come up before,” she said finally, eyes narrowed, “but L-Corp has corporate values of being gay friendly and she hasn’t changed it so, I don’t think so… its Lena,” she said as though Lena being Lena were the answer for everything. Lena didn’t have a cruel bone in her body and wouldn’t hate or judge someone based on their sexual preference.

“So the fact that Supergirl is an alien then? But she agreed so I really-“

“No,” Kara interrupted with a shake of her head. “She’s not like _that_ , Alex,” she emphasised and then sighed. You would have thought that after everything Lena had done for the aliens of National City and the world, and for Supergirl, people would stop looking at the shadow of her last name and at the woman glowing beneath it.

“She,” Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Lena wanted- _wants_ \- a fairy-tale,” she said slowly, not sure if she should be telling Alex this but she told her sister everything and she needed Alex to understand why she couldn’t just marry Lena. “She wants the love story and the romance and the romantic engagement and the beautiful wedding and I-Supergirl- if she marries Supergirl she’ll never get the chance at that.”

Alex’s expression had softened and she shook her head slightly but let Kara finish.

“I can’t take away that chance even if it will mean saving my life.”

“And you are taking away her choice,” Alex said softly, and were it not connected to saving her life Kara would wonder at how pro-Lena Alex were being, but maybe her friend was growing on her sister. That would be nice. She’d like to invite Lena to Game Night. Lena meant a lot to her and having her meet her other friends would mean a lot.

“She’s setting aside her own happiness, a chance at it, to save you,” Alex’s voice was serious and her brow was crinkled. “She thinks Supergirl, you, Kara, are more important than her chance at love. What does that tell you about her? And about you?”

Kara was silent for a long while, processing what Alex was saying and not saying.

Lena was willing to marry Supergirl, a virtual stranger because though they were work acquaintances and even friends Lena didn’t know many personal things about Supergirl,  and an alien to save her life. Which meant she valued what Supergirl stood for and believed in more than her own happiness. Lena was trying to do the right thing and to protect people at the cost of herself, again. And Kara was being selfish because she cared too much about Lena to chain her to Supergirl and lose the chance at love. Lena was being the hero here, not Kara. And really, her decision had already been made. She didn’t want to die, and Lena was willing, so there was really only one way forward.

Kara sank even further into the couch and let out a soft sigh.

“Okay,” she said to Alex, looking up at her sister through her lashes. “I’ll do it,” she said and was rewarded with Alex relaxing and letting out an ‘oh thank god’ breath of relief.

Her sister was quick off the couch and over to hers to wrap an arm around her and Kara leant into the comfort silently.

“I want to do it properly,” she confessed softly after a few moments of silence and Alex tensed a little next to her and pulled back to look at her.

She asked for clarification with an arched brow and Kara had a momentary thought that Lena worked the look better.

“I want to propose and have a ring and, not like a wedding-wedding, but maybe I can make it a little special?” She faltered a little and unclenched her palms and laid them on her knees.

“Does that make sense?” She asked and looked to Alex for guidance.

Alex was smiling. The slow, soft smile she would get sometimes when Kara had done or said something that made her proud and Kara felt a warmth flicker in her chest.

“Leave that with me,” she said and gave Kara’s arm a comforting squeeze.

~*~

Meghan Roth liked to think she was good at her job, excellent even. She’d been working at ‘Diamonds are forever’ jewellery store for well over a decade, since she had gotten a part time job while still at school, and she still loved it. Every day was different. Every day someone walked out smiling.  And she loved that she could help, that their beautiful rings and necklaces and jewellery made people happy. She especially loved seeing nervous looking partners come in and dither over gorgeous engagement rings or couples who’d been married for years and were looking for an anniversary gift. Meghan helped them all with a smile on her face. She loved her job, truly. What other happy occasion could there be other than the beginning of two peoples lives together? It was a beautiful thing and she loved to help them.

As she smiled goodbye to a giddy looking young woman with blonde hair who’d just brought an engagement ring she saw a large black SUV pull up outside in the loading zone across the street. Curiously she watched as a pale woman in black, obviously military of some sort and clearly from a different branch than the army, got out and appeared to look directly at Meghan. She had short brown hair that gleamed auburn in the light and a no-nonsense face and Meghan swallowed as she checked both ways before crossing the street, paying no mind to the pedestrian crossing she could have used. Cars seemed to part before her as though sensing the woman was important and when the bells dinged her arrival into the store Meghan mustered her best ‘saleswoman’ smile.

The woman ignored the displays and the glittering jewels and marched straight up to the counter and Meghan felt herself cowering slightly even though the stranger wasn’t hostile.

“I need to speak to the manager,” she said calmly but Meghan knew that it was not a request and felt her spine straighten.

“That’s me. Hi,” she lifted her hand in an awkward wave and then lowered it quickly, smile fading. “How can I help you?”

“I need you to sign these,” the woman said and handed her a file in a black folder. Meghan blinked at it a moment before sliding it towards her and lifted her eyes to meet the woman’s dark ones.

“I also need you to open after hours tonight. Just you. Clear it over with whoever you have to, but no one finds out about this.”

Meghan blinked and opened the folder to see that it was a lot of legal jargon but she recognised a few words instantly and her jaw fell open. It was a Non-disclosure agreement.

“Um, what?” She was struggling a little with keeping up with what, exactly, was going on.

The woman gave her no time to respond. “Someone will be by at five to take the file back and explain to you how this is going to work.”

She gave a little nod, obviously used to being obeyed to the letter and spun and strode from the store, lowering her glasses back onto her nose as she went, and some part of Meghan swooned. That woman was a badass and she knew it!

Completely bemused by what had just happened she thumbed the documents before her and saw a trio of letters indented in the paper. What was the DEO? And what did a government agency want with a jewellery store enough to make them open after hours and sign a NDA? Who was coming in, the president?

Feeling off put she ran her eyes over the paperwork. To her surprise this DEO had even translated the legal jargon for her in laymen’s terms.

She had a few more visitors to the store as the day wore on and in between she returned to the folder and the files within. From her understanding she was basically going to forget that this had ever happened, that whoever was coming into the store later on would be buying whatever it was they were buying- in cash with no paper trail, and she would forget their face instantly or, and she was paraphrasing the jargon here, she’d find herself locked up in a little box with the key thrown away.

Seeing little to no choice, and also very curious, she signed the papers and closed the folder, the thought of it at the back of her mind as her day wore on. One of her fellow employees had even commented on how out of it she had been, but she had just waved the comment off.

At four fifty-six a familiar black SUV pulled up in the loading zone and another figure in black shut the door. It was a black man this time and he was accompanied by another white man wearing a plaid shirt and black jeans and he was carrying one of those tablet cases.

Meghan felt her stomach clamp up in nerves, or maybe it was because she hadn’t been able to eat anything since the woman’s visit in the morning.

The man in black was obviously in charge and he swept into the room and looked around imperiously before marching over to her. The other man, visibly excited and happy but trying to contain it, followed him quickly.

“Miss Roth,” the man offered his hand and Meghan shakily accepted his handshake. He was an imposing man, stern looking, with a strong face and he reminded her of a grouchy bear as his presence seemed to fill the room completely. But he didn’t tighten his handshake and he immediately stood back from her and she felt herself ease a little bit. He seemed nice enough, for all that he was a powerful man.

“You may call me Mr Jones,” he rumbled and the man next to him had his tablet case open and was excitedly tapping away.

“I understand you’ve signed the NDA agreements delivered to you earlier.”

Nodding, throat dry, Meghan slid the folder across the bench to him.

“Excellent,” he said and handed the folder off to his assistant, bodyguard-person? Without even bothering to check she had signed everything. She had, but still. Surely, he could check at least?

“I’m in,” the other man said, and he lifted his gaze from his device to smile at her. “You should look at some better security.” He tapped on his device fondly. “I was in easy.”

“Thank you, Agent,” Mr Jones said pointedly with a narrowing of his already lowered brow and the other agent winced and nodded.

Mr Jones turned back to Meghan as she glanced between the two men and the time. She finished at five fifteen so she really needed to start to close the store down. She’d already said goodbye to their part-timer.

“Now,” he said and Meghan nervously flattened her palms on the counter. “Tonight at ten o’clock someone will be in here shopping. You will not ask questions, you will not take photos, you wont even speak unless you are spoken to, are we clear?”

He wasn’t asking and Meghan nodded her head jerkily as her heart thudded. Oh, Lord, what was she getting herself into?

“You will note the transaction but there will be no names and no faces. The security systems will go down for as long as necessary and there will be no camera’s. All systems will be rebooted the moment they leave. Any questions?”

Meghan nodded blankly along with everything the man was saying, and though she itched to ask who would be in buying a ring, she didn’t dare to. Besides, surely she would see them soon?

“Okay,” she breathed out weakly and the man nodded, a suddenly pleasant smile on his face and she faltered with how quickly his demeanour had changed from a grouchy bear to an almost friendly father like figure.

“Good,” his smile made him seem more human than statue and she was left reeling in confusion. “This means a lot to her and I’d hate for it to go badly.”

There was a threat in there somewhere, Meghan was sure of it, but Mr Jones was smiling pleasantly at her and she wouldn’t be able to prove it, even as her heart rate leapt and she felt fear caress her nape with icy fingers.

“I’ll do my best,” she replied hoarsely and he gave her a little nod.

“I’m sure. Goodbye,” he said and turned and strode back towards the exit and the other man grinned at her and followed his boss, almost bouncing along like a puppy.

As the doors hut behind them she heard him exclaim, “That was so awesome! I feel like such a badass! What do you-“

Still reeling from her day Meghan shook herself and then slowly went about closing down the store, making a mental note to ring her boss and speak with her about what was going to happen tonight. It wasn’t that strange, she reasoned as she locked the cabinets and locked the keys away. Rich and famous people did things like that all the time if they didn’t want the press to know they were buying rings. Its just… she’d never had the military come in, or at least some branch of it, whoever the DEO were, and she could feel her curiosity. Just _who_ would need the upmost secrecy?

She found out later that night. Leaving her flatmates at nine-thirty had been interesting to explain, and she missed her boyfriend returning from his shift off the ward. The hard part was that she could never tell him _why_ and just who was so important that she had to go back to work at ten pm and could never tell anyone. She could only tell them that someone very important and with the need for secrecy had requested the after-hours purchase. Of course her flatmates and boyfriend speculated, and watched the news eagerly for a sign of who had kept her out that night, but she kept her mouth closed. After all, it wasn’t every day that Supergirl came into her store and brought a ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the assist TV :D
> 
> Thanks everyone for the comments and Kudos :D


	10. Chapter 10

It took Kara a moment to process what, exactly, Alex had told her. She knew the words, knew what they meant and could even translate them into a half dozen languages not even spoken on Earth, but she struggled to put the meanings together.

“You.” She paused and blinked. “What?”

“I booked out ‘Diamonds are Forever’ jewellery store,” Alex repeated and Kara blinked again and her eyes narrowed.

“You booked out a jewellery store?” She asked suspiciously.

Alex rolled her eyes. “Yes, Kara,” she said and folded her arms. “You said you wanted to do this properly, so I hired out the jewellery store.”

“That’s,” Kara blinked, and blinked again. “Thank you,” she settled on, staring over at Alex and her sister smiled softly at her.

“We’ll have it from ten pm until we are done. J’onn and Winn have already sorted out the security risks…. And I’ll be with you, of course.”

Kara rushed her sister and wrapped her arms around her.

“Easy there,” Alex joked and patted her back a moment and pulled back. “I know how much it meant to you,” she said softly. Kara gave her an additional squeeze and finally pulled away, features falling as a thought struck her.

“I can’t afford an engagement ring,” she said suddenly and her brow furrowed. “I could make some diamonds though,” she considered, thinking back on her Earth chemistry classes. “I’d use my heat vision. Do we have any carbon?”

Alex tilted her head and lifted her brows pointedly and Kara shrugged sheepishly. Once, back when she had first landed and Alex had told her the value of the sparkly rocks, she may or may not have suggested she could turn Alex’s pencil into a diamond by using her strength and laser vision. Though tempted Alex had immediately told her no, that she could get into trouble, but the thought would arise whenever she saw engagement rings on television or passed a jewellery store. If she were ever short of money it wouldn’t be an issue, but it was, unfortunately, cheating.

“The DEO has agreed to cover the costs as it will come under the whole ‘saving your life’ treatment. As far as the books are going to be concerned it will come under your upkeep for the year.”  Alex’s smile was wry.

Kara beamed at Alex, turning from her mental calculation of her savings and back to the fact that the DEO was going to buy it for her. Then another thought struck her. What if Lena didn’t like diamonds? What if Emeralds were her favourite? Like her eyes? Or maybe she loved Sapphires or rubies? What if Kara brought the wrong one?

She worried her lip a moment and Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to get anything, we can book out another store until we find the right one. We’re just going to look.”

Kara frowned. “But I’m getting married in less than a week!” Then her own words struck her again. She was getting married in less than a week! Oh, Rao!

She lifted wide eyes to Alex and her sister had already lifted her hands and brought them to her shoulders as Kara started to panic.

“Kara, breathe,” she said gently. “Breathe.”

Kara made a conscious effort to control her breathing as notes of discomfort spread through her body.

“It’ll be fine, Kara,” Alex cooed and Kara nodded slowly, panic fading. “We’ll go have a look at the rings and if we don’t find the right one we can look again…also,” Alex added and her features scrunched as she winced. “Um, you need to go and see mum….”

Kara’s eyes went wide. “You told Eliza!!!!” She hissed and Alex lifted her hands in a helpless gesture.

“What else was I supposed to say? We asked her for help with the curse and then of course she wanted to know when we found a way around it!”

“You told her I’m getting married?!” Eliza was probably a mixture of disappointed and ecstatic and Kara didn’t quite know which emotion would take precedence. Dealing with parental disappointment was _hard_ , but having her earth mum excited about her getting married was also conflicting. She didn’t truly want to marry Lena, not that Lena wasn’t the most amazing woman on earth, but because she didn’t love Kara- Supergirl- and the marriage wouldn’t bring her the joy it should. Kara was still uncertain about the entire solution but had decided to go through with it.

Alex went oddly calm and a crease split her brow. “She was oddly thrilled, actually,” Alex said and her tone turned… wistful.

“Eliza is happy I’m getting married?” Kara blinked, trying to keep up with what was happening.

“ _Thrilled_ ,” Alex emphasised with a sharp nod. “She wants to talk to you Thursday. She’s making breakfast,” Alex added, as though the promise of breakfast would convince Kara to talk to her mother and stumble her way through an explanation.

“So,” Kara hedged, “you told her who it was?”

Alex gave a little nod. “She knows.”

Kara swallowed at that. How would her mother feel about her marrying a Luthor?

“How did-“

“You’ll have to talk to her,” Alex interrupted and there was a crackling of their ear pieces alerting them to a robbery.

“We’ll talk later, Kara,” Alex said and smiled at her sister. “Go and save the day, Supergirl.”

Kara stepped back and nodded. She lifted gently off the ground and cast Alex a final glance.

“I’ll see you later,” she said and Alex nodded, already turning and walking towards the main control area, no doubt going to keep tabs on Kara.

Waving farewell Kara soared out of the DEO and into the sunshine. You would have thought that with a Superhero around people wouldn’t be so stupid as to try to commit petty crimes, but no, criminals were stupid and she had to clean up after them. She had better things to do; namely figure out what kind of ring she should give Lena. Then, of course, she had to figure out how to tell Lena that she was Supergirl. Hopefully that would lessen some of Lena’s fears. There were worse fates than marrying your best friend, after all.

~*~

It was dark when Supergirl finally touched down and she was careful to look all around her before zooming into the jewellery store. Alex was already there and with her was a young girl, probably mid to late twenties, with dark hair and skin and a pretty purple shirt and black jeans.

As Kara stepped into the store the woman glanced up and Kara saw the exact moment that she realised who, exactly, had stepped into her store.

“Hi,” Kara waved awkwardly and walked quickly over to Alex as the girls eyes were wide and her heart tripped over itself.

“Agent,” she said professionally as Alex turned away from her phone and pocketed it.

“Supergirl,” Alex said and lifted her brows and smiled. “This is Meghan. Meghan, I’m sure I don’t have to introduce our guest.”

Meghan’s mouth was partially open in shock and her eyes were wide in surprise. She shook her head quickly and made a conscious effort to close her mouth. “No,” she squeaked and then cleared her throat as she flushed. “Not at all. Ma’am.”

It was always weird being called ‘Ma’am,’ or treated with so much respect simply for being there. She was a strong supporter of treating everyone respectfully in general but having it addressed at her, with so much respect and awe was always unsettling. Kara Danvers wasn’t quite sure how to handle such open admiration.

“So, um, how do we um- do this?” Kara asked awkwardly, glancing around the store and eyeing the glinting jewels. Where did she even begin? She chanced a glance at Alex to see her sister also looking a little overwhelmed.

Thankfully Meghan was a professional and swallowed her surprise and awe well.

“Well then, Miss Supergirl, er Ma’am, “ she hesitated and her expression adequately conveyed her panic over how she should be addressing both Kara and Alex.

“Supergirl is fine,” Kara said gently, knowing how she intimidated people.

“This is Alex,” she said and jabbed her finger at her sister. Alex merely lifted a brow and curled her head into her shoulder in a slight shrug. Meghan had signed enough NDA’s that if she ever spoke a word of anything that happened tonight she’d never be able to work again and would probably spend the rest of her life in solitary confinement in a box somewhere.

“Right…. Supergirl,” Meghan sounded her name out and then blinked. “What are you after today?” She eased into her customer service role with the experience of someone who had been doing it for years, but it wasn’t robotic, she obviously enjoyed her job as she seemed to genuinely care.

“Um, a, um, engagement ring?” Kara hesitated and ran her fingers through her hair awkwardly and then put her hands on her hips. The position felt uncomfortable and a little bit hostile so she folded her arms instead.

Meghan nodded quickly, taking the information and filing it away.

“What kind of ring were you after? Our men’s rings are-oh,” Meghan trailed off and there was a momentary silence as Alex bristled. Obviously she had seen Kara give something away and it had clearly surprised her.

“Is that a problem?” Alex’s voice was low and dangerous and her eyes flashed, much like the jewellery around them, and Meghan gulped even as her hands came up.

“Hey! No, my brother is gay!” She said defensively. “Sorry for assuming,” she added apologetically to Kara and Kara brought her arms around her slightly.

This was a bad idea. She had no idea what she was doing and she was going to get the wrong one and Lena was going to hate her and it was all going to go badly.

“Sorry,” Meghan repeated and her voice was soft and consoling as she went on.

“What kind of ring are you after?”

Kara felt her shoulders pull unconsciously and she was certain Supergirl had never looked so lost or helpless.

“Okay,” Meghan nodded to herself and approached her.

“We have a lot of different styles. I’m sure we can find something for you,” she smiled and there was a glimmer of excitement in her eyes, the kind that Alex got when she was in the middle of something science-y. It reminded her of the shine that Lena got when she was talking about her new technology and her mind flashed back to a few nights earlier when she and Lena had dinner.

Lena had told her, off the record of course, that L-Corp was in the middle of developing technology that could purify water from anywhere and have a 95% purification rate. It involved some solar power and some chemical reaction, but when the process was complete the end water product would be safe to drink and even free of chemicals. The waste could be removed and then the process could begin again. Lena had been ecstatic as she told Kara about it, saying that if they got the design right it could fit in a backpack, or even smaller if it was only for one person, like part of a survival kit. Her only problem was making the technology, which was now about the size of a microwave, small and portable without losing the solar panelling. Of course she had considered kinetic energy with it as well, but making space for both was proving difficult.

It was one of the reasons Kara loved Lena so much. Her friend was constantly striving to do the right thing and to help people. It was less about being a hero, as Lena clearly didn’t consider herself one and instead went about helping people quietly, but more about helping people. Sometimes Kara thought that Lena was a better hero than she, Supergirl was, because Lena was human and she didn’t wear a crest or have the words ‘super’ and ‘hero’ associated with her. Lena just quietly went about changing the world. Kara wasn’t blind or deaf to the criticisms of her and her cousin, but sometimes she privately thought that it was people like Lena who were the true heroes.

“What kind of ring is she in to?”

Kara drew a blank and cast a glance at Alex. “I don’t- I don’t really know?” She hedged and Meghan’s features twitched slightly but she still maintained her customer service smile.

“Well um she ah wears a lot of jewellery,” Kara began, casting Alex another plea for help which went unanswered. Alex hardly knew Lena and everything she did know would be when she was dressed to impress so it hardly counted. And Kara could hardly say to Meghan, ‘oh hey! Its for Lena Luthor! What do you think she would like?’ because that would open up a whole barrel of worms that Kara wasn’t interested in dealing with. J’onn would be so disappointed.

“She can afford to buy whatever she wants whenever she wants,” Kara said and then paused. It sounded like she was bragging and making little of Lena. Lena worked hard for what she had and she deserved every cent. Kara would know. She had seen some of Lena’s charitable donations, so had the DEO as they had tracked a few outgoing donations and had realised where Lena had anonymously sent millions of dollars. She sent them to charity. Her public records of donations were in the tens of millions but her anonymous donations, which had been difficult to track, were in the hundreds of millions, and really went to show just how big Lena’s heart was.

Wincing because now Meghan probably thought that Supergirl was shallow and vain and only interested in material things she ran a finger through her hair.

“Um, that came out wrong,” she tried again. “Um,” she scratched her nose. “So… she can afford whatever jewellery she wants- not that she doesn’t give heaps of money to charity because I’ve seen the receipts and she’s a good person and not like heaps of the shallow and snobby rich people and she is kind and-“

“Enough,” Alex groaned and pushed off the counter she was leaning on. “Please stop,” she lifted her hands and curled her fingers around her head in a very obvious gesture of being driven crazy. Kara fell silent and toed at the floor, admiring the handsome wood beneath her boots.

“Supergirl,” Alex said turning to Meghan and glancing heavenward briefly as though to ask for strength from whatever deity may be listening. “Has to marry her best friend in order to save her life.” Kara blinked in surprise. After all the DEO had done to keep it a secret here Alex was just telling a random person what was going on with National Cities hero. It was very odd. But then again, Kara only had four days or so, by Kal’s estimations. She’d start to get sick again soon, and she was starting to feel it. Just a niggle of fatigue after she finished her nightly patrol, or a slight ache in her muscles when she dropped criminals off at the Police Department. Her timer was running down, but she still wanted to do this properly, give Lena the best that she could manage.

Meghan’s features formed a comic ‘oh’ of surprise and she blinked. “That’s um, that’s- a nice thing to do?” She winced after speaking, because of course Supergirl’s best friend would have no issue marrying her to save the heroes life, besides, it couldn’t be that bad. Not that Meghan wanted to marry her best friend, she currently had a boyfriend, but her best friend would make her happy in a completely platonic way. They loved each other dearly but not romantically.

“Just-tell Meghan what she’s like,” Alex suggested. “And not,” she added when Kara perked up at the thought of bragging about Lena, “like you normally do. Please?”

Kara blinked and her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, like I normally do?” She was fairly certain she was pouting. She didn’t talk about Lena all that much, only to defend her against all of the bad people who were talking about things they knew nothing of. She was allowed to talk about her friends! What was Alex talking about?

“Just tell her!” Alex was clearly losing patience and a bemused Kara turned back to a wide-eyed Meghan.

“Um, okay. Yeah,” Meghan said and gave a little nod. She moistened her lips. “Tell me about her.”

Kara could do that. She could do that very easily.

“Okay! Well, firstly she’s like the most beautiful woman in the world! And I would know! I’ve been to so many of them and she’s just… she’s out of this world! And its not just on the outside!  In fact,” Kara said firmly while missing Meghan’s startled eyes, “it’s like her inner beauty is shining out from inside of her and lighting everything she touches! She’s crazy smart and one of the kindest people I have ever met and she doesn’t let how other people perceive her change her actions at all because she just keeps changing the world one step at a time and she does so many things for so many people and they don’t even know and she doesn’t even want them to know? Its like, she’s not doing it for them to know about her she just does it and then moves on like she doesn’t think she deserves the recognition for changing peoples lives but when she has and she has seen the affect her actions have had on people she gets this small smile on her lips and it shines out of her eyes. And her eyes! Her eyes are so beautiful and I swear they are like looking into the oceans of ancient Worlfinvech! I’ve only ever seen it in art or impressions but I swear they were inspired by her eyes. And then there is her heart!”

Kara had barely taken a breath as she proceeded to list everything she loved about Lena, often jumping back and forward as a thought carried her one way and then the other, but it was all about Lena. How could she explain how amazing her friend was to someone who had never met her? She had limited time so she had to try. So she did. Meghan had long lost control of her mouth as Kara rambled and Alex had shaken her head and gone back to her phone as Kara talked, pacing up and down the aisle, taking care not to wear a path on the wood.

Eventually she paused to take a breath between discussing Lena’s soft smile when she had done something that made Kara feel warm on the inside and onto her next smile, the one that followed Lena shaking her head and rolling her eyes in unrestrained fondness, when Meghan interrupted.

“I think you’ve said enough,” she said and Kara blinked and her shoulders dropped.

“But I haven’t finished,” Kara could feel her voice lifting in a whine. It wasn’t everyday she got to talk about Lena, without mentioning her name, and tell people just how amazing her best friend was. How could Meghan deny it when Kara was telling her all these incredible things?

“I’ve… got a pretty good understanding about your girlfriend,” Meghan said with a slow, knowing smile and Kara beamed.

“Isn’t she the best?” She said and was grinning, happy with the knowledge that someone else understood why Lena was her best friend. “She’s the best friend in the world!”

Meghan’s hair bobbed a moment as she nodded slowly and her mouth was doing that weird thing that Alex did sometimes- did she maybe have something between her teeth? “Right,” she said slowly. “Best friend.”

Kara nodded in agreement. Lena was the best friend ever. Though recently Maggie had been saying it the same way Meghan was saying it. Maybe they totally understood what she was talking about, because Alex hadn’t really had a best girl friend in years, and Maggie and Meghan obviously did and understood just how close they could get.

“The best,” Kara beamed. “So can you help me choose a ring? I want it to be perfect! I mean, she’s helping me out so the least I can do is get her a nice ring, you know?”

“Okay, we can start with the basics,” Meghan said and pointed out various cases. When she had come back in to work she had set out the displays again, unlocking the cabinets and returning the expensive jewels from the safe boxes. “Do you want gold or silver?”

Kara gave it a moments thought.

“Or were you thinking something a bit more exotic? Black gold? Rose gold? Platinum?”

Feeling a flicker of unease at the options Kara breathed out in relief when Alex interrupted.

“Go with something simple,” she said as she pocketed her phone. “She has the means to get anything she wants, and most of her jewellery is subtle. She sometimes wears bigger pieces but not very often.”

Kara nodded. “She usually wears little things,” she agreed. “But they’re always elegant and simple and beautiful.”

Meghan glanced around the store and then walked over to another case with purpose. “Okay, so we can start with simple ones. Gold or silver?”

“Silver,” Kara said, and it was her personal preference when she said so. Gold rings were pretty but there was something about silver ones.

“Do you have a preference for the jewel? Most of our silver rings come in diamond, and sapphire,” Meghan said and moved around the counter to pull out some options. Usually she wouldn’t risk it, but this was Supergirl, and it was doubtful anyone would try anything with the hero around.

“Diamonds would be best,” Kara said and walked over to peer down at the shiny rings. They were so pretty. Alex meandered over as well and Kara could see she was interested in a few of them and wondered if maybe, sometime soon, there would be another Danvers wedding. The thought made her smile to herself as she examined her choices.

“Do they mean anything?” She asked curiously. She’d never gone jewellery shopping with a purpose, and wondered if there was a meaning behind any ring she was eyeing.

“Well,” Meghan said slowly. “The gems themselves have different meanings. Diamonds tend to be associated with faithfulness, innocence, strength, power, purity, a range of different things. But.. perhaps for your friend… the fact that they take time and immense pressure and heat to form could relate to her?”

Kara gave it a moments thought as she eyed the range of rings. There were so many to choose from! How could she ever decide?

“What about the styles?”

There were split rings, ones with curves on the top, ones with diamonds all around, and even single lonely diamonds. Though to be fair the size of those diamonds more than made up for their alone status.

Meghan started to explain how modern people viewed some styles. There was the classic, vintage, modern and solitaire. Kara had her attention caught by the trio stones, but also liked the idea of a wedding ring set.  The halo rings she passed on immediately. They were too bulky and flashy, and while Lena was classy, she wasn’t obnoxious, and that was what those rings were. She even briefly considered a promise ring before deciding it was far too childish and they actually were going to tie themselves together forever.

“What do these ones mean again?” She asked, pointing to the trio set.

“Past, present, and future,” Meghan provided helpfully. “You could get it as part of a set,” she offered and directed Kara’s attention to the duo rings with a manicured hand.

“There are a few trio rings here.”

Kara glanced over at Alex. “What do you think?”

Alex peered over Kara’s shoulder and had a look.

“No. No. No,” she said as she went down the list. “Maybe. No. No. This one?”

Alex tapped the air above her choice and Kara nodded. “That was my first choice as well,” she said and glanced at Meghan. “Can I have a closer look?”

Meghan gestured her approval and Kara gently picked it from its sheath of velvet purple and lifted it up to admire it, more for Alex than her.  Kara’s superior eyesight meant she could already see all of it, but she just wanted a closer look. The wedding ring was 14k White Gold with a 1 ½ carat in total. It was a beautiful ring, with delicate arches and etchings around the gems at the top, but stopped half way down the ring. The design continued on the side of the ring all the way around.

Nodding to herself pleased Kara handed the first ring off to Alex to admire while she looked at the engagement ring. It was smaller than the wedding ring, of course, and simpler in design. It was also white gold and had the same pattern etched around the rim and on the top half of the ring, though woven in between were tiny diamonds that winked cheekily at her in the light. All in all it was a beautiful set and part of Kara wondered, briefly, what it would look like on long alabaster fingers.

“Pretty,” Alex commented and handed the first ring back and examined the engagement ring.

“I’ll take this one, thank you,” Kara said and smiled before clapping her hands together in excitement. Alex was smiling at her softly and Meghan was beaming as she took the rings back and set them carefully in a box.

Meghan then set aside Kara’s decision and locked the case before moving over to the till and ringing up the numbers.

Alex then moved away from the rings and over to the til, pulling out a Platinum American Express while Kara kept an eye on her rings for Lena.

She really needed to tell her, now more than ever and as she stared through the box that held both her chains and freedom she decided she would talk to her tomorrow and tell her the truth. That she was Supergirl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Beta TV!
> 
> Thanks everyone for the Kudos and comments :D


	11. Chapter 11

“Kara.” Lena’s voice was warm and melodic and broke Kara from her thoughts as she stepped into Lena’s apartment.

“Lena!” She beamed in response, feeling her lips curl unbidden and Lena stepped aside to close the door behind her. The security system let out a series of beeps as the door locked itself and armed. Carefully Kara lowered her drinks onto Lena’s kitchen bench and sat the brown paper bags down next to it. Already the grease had stained the colour from places and she felt her belly grumble in anticipation, even though she had already eaten a half dozen buns and a large breakfast from Noonan’s.

“How are you?” Kara asked as she turned around and watched Lena walk into the kitchen and point at the drinks.

“That one,” Kara said and Lena took the drink and brought it to her lips with a sigh.

She hummed at the taste or the warmth, Kara wasn’t sure, and her eyelids closed and Kara took a moment to appraise her friend.

Lena looked tired, exhausted really, and her clothing was hanging just a little bit more than acceptable off her slight frame. There were deep lines under her eyes and her hair had lost a little of its shine. All in all Lena wasn’t looking at the peak of health, and Kara felt something twist in her belly at the thought of being the cause. Because she knew what was keeping Lena up at night and diminishing her appetite, her impending nuptials with Supergirl. But hopefully, when the time was right, Kara could make all of that stress melt away.

“I’ve been…” Lena began and hesitated. “Work has been busy, and rebuilding,” she said instead and her eyes flickered open and they were a dark green, stark against the make-up around her eyes.

“Well, breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” she told Lena as she reached for her own mug and took a little sip.  Humming in delight at the sweet taste she added, “hopefully it will pick you up.”

“You do that.”

Lena awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck after speaking and there was a dusting of red to her pale cheeks, making her blush more apparent. Something in Kara’s chest flipped at the thought of brightening Lena’s day. Her cheeks pulled her lips tight over her teeth and she took a big sip of her drink, feeling oddly shy for some reason.

As Lena thumbed open the brown paper bag, already turning transparent with grease stains, Kara wondered how she could broach the subject of Supergirl and Lena’s marriage…. Which reminded her! She hadn’t actually gone back to Lena as Supergirl and accepted. Actually, she thought to herself with a frown, she hadn’t even talked to Lena about it at all. Maybe they could start from there?

“What’s wrong?” Lena asked, lifting her attention from where she was peeling dainty pieces from her pastry.

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” Kara responded, still wondering how Lena had felt when Supergirl rejected her. She really, really needed to address that as well. Maybe after the whole ‘I am Supergirl and thankyou for agreeing to marry me’ thing.

“Crinkle,” Lena pointed out and tilted her head partially, gesturing with a manicured hand to Kara’s forehead. She had French tips today, and when Kara peered closer she could see a slight sparkle to the white, almost like frosting.

Grumbling at her tell she tried to smoothen her features and wasn’t sure she was all that successful. “I’m okay, really.”

Lena lifted her brow briefly and ducked her head, conveying her disbelief of the lie but also agreeing to let it slide.

They were quiet a moment as Lena picked at her pastry and Kara watched as most of it ended up in a torn pile, with very little going between neutral lips and she wondered when the last time Lena had actually eaten something. It wasn’t an awkward silence, it was…. Comfortable…. Both women lost in their own thoughts but taking solace in not being alone.

“I read your article,” Lena said eventually, pausing to take a sip of her drink.

“Hm? Oh! Yeah,” Kara nodded a little, knowing that one of her puff pieces on the Daxamite attack had been published early this morning, or late yesterday, depending on when you saw the news. It had been on the same elderly man she had mentioned to Lena, the one who had lost his wife in the Invasion, and had heavily featured the arrival of the Martian’s who successfully drove back the patrol of Daxamites, but not before there had been casualties. The man’s name was Michael, and his wife was Christine, they had survived the Second World War and had immigrated to the States to begin again. Together they had four living children, with two deceased, and eleven grandchildren with another two on the way and one great-grandchild. It had saddened Kara, as she had stood in the rubble of the man’s house as Michael broke down over memories immortalised on film, that they had survived such chaos wrought by humans that it had to end at the hands of an alien.

It had been disheartening, but his smile had been true and full of love as he spoke about Christine and their family, and the memories of the photos he showed her, and he didn’t hate the Daxamites for what they had done. It had left Kara in awe, that someone could love so much, and could forgive so much when Kara was having a hard time forgiving herself for what had happened, and she knew Lena had a hard time with it.

“It was…touching,” Lena voiced and hid her features behind her cup, but Kara could see her eyes glinting above it.

Kara agreed. Then she had a thought. Maybe this was the opportunity to bring up her marriage to Lena?

“They’d been married a long time,” she said carefully. She could do this. She could be sneaky.

Lena went still and Kara caught the way her heartbeat tripped before steadying.

“Supergirl told you,” she said without surprise, and her face had gone carefully blank. Kara felt herself frown. She didn’t like it when Lena closed off from the world. She knew it was a way Lena tried to protect herself, and she hated that Lena had learnt to do it, and that the world made her put on the mask to hide just how soft, gentle and kind she was.

Lena took a long sip of her drink while Kara wondered if she should tell her now, right now. Just, blurt it out in typical Kara fashion. How would Lena react? Would she be angry and then sad? Or would she feel mad and betrayed? Kara had a feeling it was the latter and was afraid of it. Kara was a people person. She hated to be ignored and on the outside of things. It probably stemmed from her time alone in the Phantom Zone. It was why she loved cities so much. There were always people around, or if not around, the sounds of them lingered and echoed and bounced off the skyscrapers and rattled the chamber of her chest so that she knew she was never alone. And never had to be alone again.

“Did she tell you everything?” Lena asked as she set her cup carefully on the bench and Kara heard the faint creaking of the bar-stool as she sat on it.

Hesitating Kara nodded a little. Yes, she knew everything. More than Lena did at any rate. She, at least, knew why Supergirl had turned Lena down, and also who had sold her to the Luthor bloodline. But Lena didn’t know that, maybe if she just pretended she could see what Lena’s reasons were? It wasn’t because she didn’t believe in Lena, because she did, it was just… did Lena like Supergirl more than she liked Kara? The thought sent a ripple of unease through Kara. Lena was Kara’s. Something just for her. The city and world had Supergirl, but Kara had Lena, and she didn’t want that to change. It was part of the reason she had been so reluctant to tell Lena. What if her perception of her changed?

It had with Winn. He loved her dearly, don’t get her wrong, it was just that once he knew her secret he couldn’t help but fangirl over it. And James already knew before he met her, thanks to her cousin, and part of her wondered if his attraction and affection for her stemmed from a need to be the ‘person’ of a Super. It probably had something to do with him and Winn trying to get themselves killed each night when they went out patrolling. Which, it was kind of stupid because National City had a Super, what good could one vigilante do with his tech side-kick?

Maggie was sort of different as well. Alex had told her who Kara was, which was pretty slack on her sister’s behalf after all Alex had gone through to protect Kara, to just confirm it to her girlfriend straight away. Cat was unique as well. Cat didn’t see Kara, not at first. She saw Supergirl first. But then she started to look at Kara and saw Supergirl in Kara and Kara in Supergirl. Then she realised Kara was special.

Lena was different. Lena took one look at Kara, it felt like, and decided she was special. When Kara was with Lena she felt like she was special, not her biology or the legacy her cousin had left her with, her. Kara. She could almost feel normal. It was like when she was with Alex but also different. Alex knew her demons and loved her anyway. Lena didn’t know what they were but knew they were there and she still accepted Kara anyway. She accepted everything about Kara with a soft smile, a brow raise, and then continued. It was… refreshing. And Kara didn’t want that to change, as selfish as it was. She wanted Lena all to herself. To Kara. Hers.

Shaking her head a little to clear her thoughts she responded, “Only that she’s sick and didn’t want your help.”

“Only you would say it like that.” Kara wasn’t sure she was supposed to hear that muttered below Lena’s breath, but Lena let out a sigh.

“My mother sold Lex to Supergirl and a member of Supergirl’s earth family sold her to Lex,” Lena said calmly and took a final sip of her cup before popping the lid and sliding off the stool. As she made her way around the bench Kara tried to get her thoughts in order. She hadn’t just expected Lena to come out and say it like that with absolutely no warning.

“Its killing her. Killing them both,” Lena ran her tongue along her teeth and her brow had a crease to it.

Kara wondered if it was at the thought of Lex dying and wondered how she felt about her brother. Kara at least sort of understood. Astra had tried to control all of humanity and Alex had to kill her to save J’onn. It wasn’t quite the same as watching your brother descend into madness and try to kill the most powerful man on earth, but it was close. Kara, at least, didn’t bear the brunt of her aunt’s actions the way Lena did Lex’s. Everyone who knew about Astra and her connection to Kara knew that Kara and Astra were two different people and that one could not be judged on the actions of the other. Lena had no such mercy. Humans were cruel and as Lex was seen as this untouchable figure, literally and metaphorically since he was in prison, they went after Lena.

Fear made people do terrible things, especially when that fear turned to anger. Anger and hatred that had no business being directed at the youngest Luthor, who shone out so brightly that the chaos of the world around her was drawn to her trying to dampen the light instead of basking in it. Kara could see it. It was one of the things she loved so much about Lena.

“The DEO thought that if they instead used someone of Luthor blood, not Lex, that it could override the ritual and save them both. It would basically marry us,” Lena said as she closed the drawer with her hip and used the teaspoon she had retrieved to dig some of the foam from her cup.

“She refused,” Lena said and popped the foam into her mouth, not meeting Kara’s eyes.

Kara was silent as she processed. Either Lena trusted Kara to stay quiet on this, or she figured that Kara already knew everything so there was no harm in her telling her. Part of her warmed at the thought of Lena trusting her so much.

“I know I’m not anyone’s first choice,” Lena said and she opened her pantry with a little more force than necessary. Her stomp on the rubbish bin foot also seemed to carry more weight than required. And the cup hit the bottom of the bin with a thump as Lena turned away. “But I thought she valued her life more than that.”

Wait, Kara felt her brow tighten, Lena was mad that Supergirl didn’t want to marry her and not offended?

“So you were gonna marry her instead?” Kara asked and pressed her glasses up her nose nervously. Lena hummed in agreement.

“I offered. It was the right thing to do.”

Blinking Kara asked, “So that’s why you wanted to marry her?” She was a little confused now. Alex hadn’t known Lena’s reasons for returning to the DEO and agreeing to the marriage, and J’onn wasn’t talking. He was oddly quiet on the entire affair actually and that deserved further investigation but at another time.

“Because it is the right thing?” Lena enquired, brow furrowed as she ran her spoon under the tap and then opened her dishwasher. Her pastry had been long abandoned and Kara eyed the pile of crumbs it had turned into.

Kara gave a little nod.

Lena hesitated leaning against her granite bench-top as she thought. “Yes and no,” she said slowly, clearly working through her reasoning in her mind.

“Supergirl is more than one person,” she offered, eyes lowered to the bench, but Kara had a feeling she wasn’t actually looking at it. “She’s…. a symbol, a beacon. When people need help or are in trouble they know that someone is coming. That someone is going to be strong enough to carry their burdens, whether she should or not is a conversation for another day,” Lena added quickly, and Kara made a mental note to come back and address that. It sounded like she didn’t agree with the heroes, or at least not entirely.

“People need her,” Lena said simply. “Regardless of my thoughts on the matter, or how National Cities maintenance budget has increased ten-fold and the calibre of villain has drastically altered, she gives the masses hope. I believe in that and if I can …protect that-her- then… shouldn’t I?”

Her voice lowered a little in question and for a brief moment indecision flickered over her face.

“Its about more than me, more than her even,” Lena added quietly and she was rolling one of her rings around her finger, an obvious tell of how anxious or even scared Lena was. “Its about them. Its about hope,” a wry smile twisted her lips, even if her tone wasn’t exactly the most supportive of the idea. The part of her face that Kara could see was etched in discomfort and even fear, but her heartbeat was steady as she finished with, “It’s… El Mayarah.”

Kara felt her heart twist in her chest. Hearing Lena speak those words, and have an acute understanding of what they meant, more so than Kal El who just thought they meant hope when it was so much more than that, meant more than she could say. She was so close to just blurting out the truth, anything to make the small, lost look on Lena’s eyes fade and opened her mouth to do just that, “I’m-“

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Lena said and lifted her gaze off of her bench top and smiled softly over at Kara and Kara abruptly clamped her mouth shut. Smiling encouragingly for Lena to continue.

“You’re the one normality in my life,” she continued and Kara let out a little squeak, audible to her own ears as her heart felt like someone had grabbed it and _yanked_.

Lena shook her head a moment and gave a little scoff. “I think I’d lose my mind if I didn’t have you, thank you for being my friend.”

Kara’s smile felt painfully fake as she placed it on her face but Lena didn’t seem to notice the difference as she smiled gently at Kara.

“You-God,” Lena said and gave a little laugh. “You make me feel normal.”

Kara’s smile twisted slightly.

“Like I’m not the sister and daughter of Earth’s most notorious alien haters and attempted genocidal maniacs. Like I don’t have one of the highest IQ’s in the world and don’t run a multi-billion dollar company.  Like I don’t receive death threats every week and have people try once every few months. You just…. You make me feel like I’m just Lena,” her head tilted to the side in thought and her eyes were narrowed as she looked at Kara. “With you I’m just… just Lena.”

Kara swallowed even as her heart felt like it was tearing itself into pieces. Of course. Lena had only one friend in National City, and that was Kara Danvers. Her very human and normal reporter best friend. Kara was Lena’s anchor, and in the moments where Lena’s impromptu speech faded into silence and she bit her lip waiting anxiously for Kara’s response, Kara realised she couldn’t take that from Lena. Supergirl had people to turn to and help her, an entire agency, and indeed the world supported her. She had Kal, as both her personas, and Alex and J’onn and Winn, and Kara had all of them. Alex, Kal, Cat, Winn, James, J’onn, the entirety of the DEO, and the world was mostly indifferent to her.

Lena, though, Lena had a world that loathed her for crimes she didn’t commit, for a name she shouldered with a regal grace and kindness, for an intelligence that kept her above her peers, for a wealth that singled her out, and a best friend who had lied to her since they had first met and was continuing to do so.

Lena Luthor only had Kara Danvers…and she needed her, more than she needed anything else, more than she needed to know the truth. Supergirl, the El’s, had taken Lex, Lillian, Jack, and Lena’s reputation, she couldn’t take her best friend as well. Lena needed the normality that clumsy, naive, human reporter Kara Danvers provided her with, a shelter in the storm.

Lena’s smile had faded slightly and her eyes were wide and her face open as she looked at Kara, obviously fearing a rejection of sorts and Kara felt something spear her chest like it was a physical thing. She couldn’t tell Lena now. Who would she confide to? Who would bring her junk food and order fries just for Lena to sneak them off of her plate? Who would cry over the Lion King with her? The answer was painfully obvious. No one. Lena Luthor would have no one. Lena only had Kara, and she needed ‘just Kara’ if she were going to get through the winding roads ahead. Supergirl could marry Lena Luthor, but Kara Danvers would be her confidant, her protector, just as she had promised all those weeks ago in Lena’s office after Jack had died. Lena would always have Kara.

“Well,” Kara said seriously, forcing down the emotion in her voice as she made a terrible decision for the right reasons. “I happen to think ‘just Lena’ is pretty awesome.”

Lena’s responding smile rivalled the sun and it was soft and sweet and….warm…. as though all of her inner light was shining out for a brief, blinding moment and Kara was star-struck. For a woman who had fallen from the stars that was saying something.

~*~

Her flight to Midvale on Thursday morning gave her time to think. And, as was becoming habit lately, her thoughts revolved around Lena. Kara had made the decision to keep her secret from Lena. It was a rather abrupt change considering she had been working up the courage to tell Lena and searching for the right words, and now she wasn’t going to tell her. She’d even written out a pro and con list, assuming that Lena would appreciate the effort and also giving herself a reference sheet.

She still had it. It was in her drawer. It was very basically drawn on a piece of one of the free L-Corp pads that stuck to the fridge that she had gotten when she accompanied Lena on a tour of the facility a long time ago. The program had been intended to get young children into science by showing them all of the things that one of the biggest tech and innovation companies in the world was doing. The program also allowed students to shadow a technician or scientist for a week during the school holidays and had  gone well. The students were all given L-Corp merch as a little gift and Lena had given Kara one for a laugh. She didn’t know that Kara wore her sweatshirt to bed sometimes. The pad was kept on her fridge for grocery lists or other reminders and when Kara had started to think about telling Lena she had instantly gone to the L-Corp note-pad.

The pen was the length from her thumb-tip to her palm and the colour was a pretty blue.

She wrote pros and cons on either side of a ‘t’ and then started her list.

The ‘pro’ list was the easiest one to think of. It involved no longer having to lie to Lena and not feeling the guilt for leaving her or for lying to her. She also wanted Lena to know all of her, and Lena would probably be fascinated by her past and would actually show an interest beyond Kara being able to fly and lift a plane and shoot lasers out of her eyes. Lena would be fascinated by the science she knew and the things she had seen.  Having all of her friends know all of her would also be freeing. She could be her around them all the time.

The right-hand side containing her ‘con’ list had been hard to think of and even harder to write down. It wasn’t that she couldn’t think of the reasons, she could, in fact she feared some of the potential outcomes and didn’t want to think of them. But she had made herself think of them and was left with a ‘con list’ that mostly ended up with Lena feeling betrayed and hurt and then getting mad and leaving Kara. It was unacceptable. Kara needed Lena in her life, and though it was selfish, she wasn’t willing to risk that loss. Coupled with the fact that Lena needed Kara in her life had convinced Kara that she could do this; she could marry Lena as Supergirl and be as distant of a spouse as possible, married in name and any of the conditions the bond set, while Kara Danvers remained Lena’s anchor and best friend. It was a little sneaky, she knew, using Kara to figure out how to appeal herself to Lena, but she was doing it for Lena. Everything was for Lena, so even though it was a betrayal she had accepted that it was better for everyone if she took this path.

Maybe Eliza could help her come to terms with it? At least she could offer another perception. Alex had been painfully obvious in her own arguments, but that was to be accepted from her sister. Alex was her champion, her anchor. Alex was her first defender and protector and heaven help anyone  who threatened Kara or hurt her. There was nothing on Earth that was as terrifying as Alex in her ‘protect Kara’ mode. Perhaps a mamma grizzly bear?

Alex knew two things; Kara was dying because she had accidently Bound her to Lex Luthor and unless they went through with it both of them would die, and two; that if Lena were to be Bound to Kara and then the two were married Lex’s Bond to Kara would be overridden and Kara would be safe. Alex would do anything to make sure that happened, even if it meant being oddly supportive of Lena when her strong distrust had lessened to mild suspicion. It explained why Alex had been so supportive of the idea, and why she had approached Lena before even discussing it with Kara.

Alex was pig-headed like that. Her sister was her hero, there was no doubt about that, but when Alex’s heart ruled her head she tended to be impulsive and reckless and single-minded in her self-righteous pursuits. It was then that Alex’s many admirable qualities were turned to tunnel vision and dogged pursuit of her goals, and her primary one had always been to protect Kara. As it had been for over a decade. Getting Lena and Kara to agree to marry each other had been the only way she had seen a way out of the mess she had accidently gotten Kara and Lex in to. It would save her sister.

The DEO was of the same mind. They wanted to keep Supergirl around. She was the Ace up their sleeve, the cities symbol and protector, and the only Kryptonian willing to work with the humans to protect them. She was an asset that needed protecting and if this was how it had to be done then this was how it would be done, with security measures made. Kara knew the DEO wouldn’t be happy with her having to marry anyone, but of the Luthor’s Lena was the best choice, hands down. They didn’t like to risk her identity, even though the secret wasn’t theirs to protect, and would probably have the same contingency plans for whoever Kara chose, if they became aware of her second job. And having someone with the intelligence and power and raw influence that Lena Luthor did would raise a few flags, just because of what she was capable of if she ever chose that path. Not that she ever would, because Lena was an actual softie that needed all of the love and affection in the world, but it would be concerning for the DEO, especially with her last name. All they saw was a Luthor. They didn’t see Lena.

Lena was actually a good choice for Supergirl, that much even her mothers AI had made clear, based on its algorithms. As a potential mate Lena ticked all the boxes that Kara had wanted, and then some, but she wasn’t for Kara. She was for Supergirl, and they didn’t love each other. Hopefully they could form a bond of mutual respect and affection, or grow the relationship that they had now. She could do far worse than Lena.

Lena at least knew about aliens and probably knew more about the Kryptonian’s than she let on, and she had agreed, and most importantly, she had gone to Alex to agree without knowing what the consequences would be. And she had told Kara why she had agreed, because she believed in Supergirl, in what _Kara_ stood for, giving people hope. Lena was being a hero without even trying, like usual, she was just following her own moral compass. Lena was kind and compassionate and intelligent and generous and willing to make difficult decisions for the right reasons. She was a light all on her own, shining in the dark. Kara would see that it stayed that way, that the cruel and dark night didn’t get to put the flame out.

She touched down in Midvale after making sure no one had seen her descent and used her vision to make sure Eliza was alone. Her adoptive mother was in the kitchen and Kara caught a large stack of pancakes sitting in the warmer as Eliza was frying some bacon and her stomach grumbled eagerly.

Landing easily on the back step she knocked before entering through the door and beaming at a smiling Eliza.

“Kara.” Eliza’s smile was warm and homey as Kara entered the kitchen in her Super suit and was quickly enveloped in a huge hug.

“Hey Eliza!” She returned the hug and took a moment to let the familiarity of what was once her second ‘home’ settle over her. It was soothing and familiar and warm and she was feeling relatively relaxed when she pulled away.

“Go get changed,” Eliza instructed, shooing her towards the stairs and returning to her bacon. “Bacon’s almost done and the pancakes are in the warmer.”

Kara’s stomach announced itself and Eliza rolled her eyes fondly and turned some rashers on the pan as it spat fat at her.

Grinning Kara zoomed up to her bed-room and quickly grabbed a pair of old sweatpants and her old Midvale High sweatshirt before bounding back down to the kitchen.

Eliza had set the table and the jug was steaming with two cups nearby so Kara took the liberty of pouring Eliza a tea and making herself a hot chocolate. Soon enough she was seated at the table next to Eliza with a large stack of pancakes, a huge plate of bacon, and with maple syrup to generously pour over her tower.

Eliza had a much more modest breakfast and was eyeing her with fond consideration and she knew that she was waiting until she had finished before speaking. Or maybe, Kara considered with her first forkful close to her mouth, she was waiting until Kara had her mouth full before saying something startling. Her eyes narrowed at the thought. Eliza had done so during her teenage-years, to both her and Alex, and she had the right to be suspicious. Learning your daughter was dying and why, and then learning she was getting married, without telling you, would certainly be the cause for no small amount of ire. Eliza had probably simmered on her maternal instinct and was waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Relax, Kara,” Eliza said with another roll of her eyes, and Eliza was certainly where Alex had learnt it, as well as the no-nonsense motherly tone. “I’m waiting until you’ve eaten before we talk.”

Kara swallowed and gave a little nod, torn between her anxiety over the approaching conversation, and her desire for food. Food won out. It usually tended to do so.

She ate quickly until she was down to her last few pancakes and Eliza was sipping at her tea and watching Kara play with her food to delay the inevitable.

“I’m not mad,” Eliza said, breaking the tension and Kara glanced up at her adoptive mother through her lashes.

“I’m not,” Eliza added seeing Kara’s surprise.

“I’m disappointed,” she finished and Kara’s face fell as a heavy feeling took control of her chest.

“Oh,” she sighed down at her plate and lowered her fork, suddenly uninterested in finishing.

“I,” Eliza sighed. “I care about you, you and Alex,” Eliza continued as Kara took great interest in her chopped up pancakes and bacon.

“I hate that you are so far away and I can’t protect you.”

Kara’s head lifted but before she could speak Eliza interrupted her.

“I know you protect each other, and I’ve come to terms with the cape, with you and Alex risking your lives to help people, but this, Kara,” her voice trailed off  and she waved her hand around. “I’m worried.”

“It’s okay, Eliza,” Kara said earnestly, looking across the table at her adoptive mother and meeting Eliza’s worried eyes.

“Alex figured a way out of it and Lena agreed.”

Eliza let out a sigh and took a sip of her tea to hide her face and the action reminded Kara of her own drink and she took it and let the warmth seep into her hands.

“I’m not worried about Supergirl, I’m worried about Kara,” Eliza barked out and her fingers were white around her cup.

Oh. Kara felt the warmth from the hot chocolate in her hands settle in her chest. Eliza wasn’t worried about Supergirl.  She was worried, as always, about her daughter Kara.

“Lena isn’t going to hurt me,” she promised gently, with the certainty of a devotee. “She’s not.”

Eliza shook her head. “I’m not worried about that.” Eliza’s eyes softened and she lowered her cup onto the table and reached out. Reflexively Kara offered her own hand and Eliza took it and squeezed gently. “You say you trust her, and your instincts are very rarely wrong. I’m worried about Kara.”

Kara frowned slightly and examined her and Eliza’s interlocked hands. It was the second time Eliza had said that, and Kara didn’t quite understand why.

Eliza saved her from having to puzzle it out.

“You’re marrying your best friend to save your life,” Eliza said gently and her jaw moved a few times but words escaped her until, “and she doesn’t know.”

Kara’s eyes darted up in question and she was met with Eliza’s knowing eyes. “I know you haven’t told her yet. You wouldn’t be here if you had,” her adoptive mother ducked her head a little and squeezed a little tighter. “You’d either be eating your weight in ice cream with Alex, or with Lena.”

Kara gave it a moment’s thought and then nodded in agreement but Eliza was already continuing.

“Honey, marriage is tough enough when both parties know and love each other. You both are going in to this blind, Lena especially.” Kara could feel the smooth metal of Eliza’s wedding ring on her hand and wondered why she hadn’t taken it off, even before they knew that Jeremiah was still alive.

“You have to work at it, like a job. You have to be patient and understanding and willing to listen. And that is for couples who’ve known each other years and have learnt little things about each other that they love and don’t love.”

Kara knew relationships took work and an openness. It was why most of hers tended to fall flat. She couldn’t give her all to them, not when her all consisted of a planets worth of baggage, and now an ‘s’ shaped secret. She wanted to be herself when she came home, and not have to hide.

“You can’t change a person, no matter how much you may want them to, or how much they may want to, you can’t be anything more or less than who you are,” Eliza said firmly and her thumb was stroking back and forth along Kara’s hand. “And you can’t be you when you go home to Lena.”

Her grip tightened momentarily, and her other hand snaked its way across the table and Kara took it obediently. “You can’t be Kara when you are with Lena, your _wife_ ,” she emphasised, “or soon to be wife,” she corrected. “You’ll always be Supergirl around her unless you are Kara, and I’m worried about what that will do to you, and to your friendship with her.”

Kara smiled across at Eliza with her lips pressed together and her cheeks pulling.  “I am Kara when I’m with Lena,” she said reassuringly and gave her own squeeze back to Eliza. “She makes me feel like-like _Kara_.” She lifted one of her shoulders in a little shrug and Eliza’s hand moved along the table with the movement, refusing to let go of the comfort she was providing.

“Okay,” Eliza nodded on the tail end of her sigh. “Okay. I hope you know what you are doing,” she cautioned but Kara could still hear the worry in her tone.

“Don’t worry, Eliza,” Kara said with a little laugh. “It’s Lena,” she said as though that were the answer that could solve everything.

She didn’t think she was meant to hear Eliza’s murmur to herself, “that’s what I’m afraid of,” but her furrowed brow was quickly replaced by her earth mum pulling a hand away and then placing something on the table.

It was a red velvet box, paled with age and with sunlight, but easily recognisable.

Kara felt her throat go tight immediately, even before she knew what was in the box.

“I want you to have this,” Eliza said softly, looking into Kara’s eyes and Kara felt the tightness in her throat expand down to her chest. “It’s my mothers from my father,” she offered it to Kara with a watery smile and warmth in her eyes.

Hesitantly Kara reached out and accepted it, popping the lid with a sharp snap.

Nestled inside on a small white cushion stained with age was a beautiful sapphire ring set in silver.

“Oh,” she sighed at how pretty it was and examined it closer as Eliza explained.

“When its Alex’s time she’ll have the ring Jeremiah gave to me but I wanted you to have this.”

She waited until Kara’s eyes lifted and they were glassy and stingingly slightly. “It may not be the circumstances I wished for you,” she said and gave a wry smile and a shake of her head, “but Lena is going to be yours forever and I wanted you to have it. Something to remind you that you are Kara Danvers as well as Kara Zor-El.”

The stinging in her eyes spilled over and Kara was up and out of her chair and embracing Eliza before her human mother could register the movement.

She gave a startled sound in surprise but quickly returned the embrace and sniffed a little.

“It’ll be okay, Eliza,” Kara promised as she leant into her adoptive mothers warm embrace and held her tightly. “I’m Supergirl. What’s the worst that can happen?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Beta TV.
> 
> Let me know what you think :D


	12. Chapter 12

 

Lena was re-reading her quarterly report and was feeling satisfied with what she was finding so far when a soft tap alerted her to a visitor. Glancing up and over at the door she frowned as the sound came again from behind her and instinctively knew who it was. She took a deep breath to steady herself and spun slowly to face the window, “Supergirl.”

The hero was standing on her balcony next to the open sliding door and looking as awkward as the most powerful being in the city and commander of such a presence and ideals possibly could.

“Hi,” the hero looked as though she didn’t entirely belong in her suit, for all that it was skin tight, as she lifted a hand and waved. The entire move was…painful to watch as she halted part way with her hand up and then continued with the motion before quickly lowering her hand.

“What can I do for you?” Lena asked, rising slowly to her feet and feeling a head-ache coming on. She hadn’t seen or spoken to the hero since she had rejected Lena’s offer of…convenience… and there had been radio silence from the DEO as well. Lena was surprised she hadn’t had Agent Danvers banging on her door again but guessed that Supergirl had put her foot down and forbidden it.

Their relationship was…odd… almost as though they were putting on the act of professionalism for Lena’s benefit. She wondered if Kara knew her sister was that close to Supergirl and then realised that perhaps Alex was the reason Supergirl went to Kara for her interviews and was a source for her. Alex Danvers asked her too. It would certainly explain how…. Angry and desperate the agent had seemed when she had first approached Lena with her shoddy attempt at blackmail. The two obviously cared for one another and from what she had seen and heard of agent Danvers, Alex was willing to do anything for the people she cared about. Lena was thankful for that, even though she didn’t enjoy the conversation she had to have with PR after agent Danvers and her cohorts had marched out of her building, Kara needed someone like Alex in her corner. She was an amazing sister, and sometimes when Lena was ready to admit it to herself, Alex and Kara’s relationship reminded her of hers and Lex’s. The older sibling doing everything in their power to protect and guide the younger. Of course that line of thinking always made her sad and then mad and so she tried to avoid thinking of it.

“Can I come in?” Supergirl enquired, hesitance written all over her body and Lena nodded as she passed by the balcony door and made for her liquor cabinet.

It was only, she glanced at her watch, seven thirty-seven, it was late enough for a drink, wasn’t it?

“Scotch?” she enquired of the hero as she poured herself two fingers and tossed her head back before tipping some more in as the alcohol roared down her throat. She spared a brief thought for ideas of her turning into her father and shoved them down, like she did with most thoughts of her family now days. If she lingered on it she’d just want to drink more and she had a feeling she wanted to only be tipsy for the conversation she was about to have with the Super.

“Um, no, no thanks,” Supergirl said and Lena noted when she turned back around that she had her hands on her hips in her classic hero pose. It didn’t suit her. Lena had noted it before. A child trying to fit into the uniform of their parent. Was she modelling herself after her cousin? Or was there someone else she was trying to embody when she wore the cape? Either way the look didn’t really suit Supergirl.

“What can I help you with?” Lena enquired as she lifted her glass in toast and took a smaller sip. The cabinet dug into her back and she shifted her angle to lean against it, not slouching but carefully positioning herself in a carefree manner while maintaining complete control. Lillian had taught her that, as well as many other things, and she liked to think of herself as a lioness in a boardroom of gazelles when she relaxed so casually while remaining in complete control. It was a move she rarely used, and was only done when she was trying to lull her opponent into a false sense of security.

“Well, um, “Supergirl lowered her arms and let them hang awkwardly at her sides and then lifted her hands again,  curling and uncurling them and pressing them flat against her skirt.

Lena felt her curiosity rise. Supergirl was nervous. Very, very nervous, and as that thought hit her she straightened and Supergirl’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. Her heart rate had accelerated slightly, she could feel it thumping powerfully in her chest and knew, from Lex’s research and the general knowledge, that she could hear it.

With blue eyes watching her carefully Lena felt her spine tighten and she straightened further, pushing off the bench and walking back to her desk with careful, controlled movements. Supergirl didn’t move from her position in the doorway but watched her move.

Lena didn’t sit at her desk, didn’t want the power difference, so instead placed her glass on a coaster and slowly turned to face the hero, leaning against her desk with her arms crossed and lifting a brow.

“I um, Rao this is hard,” Supergirl gave a shake of her head and edged into the room a little more. “I um, why did you agree to marry me?”

Lena blinked as the words rushed from the hero’s mouth and appraised her with a tilted head. Supergirl had a furrow to her brow and her lips were pressed together in a tight line and she folded her arms across her chest in a protective manoeuvre. It was wrong, Lena thought, to see the hero so uncertain and unsure and almost afraid.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lena asked, wondering what the hero was aiming for.

“Well yes but, no,” Supergirl began and then shook her head. “No. I get that you want to save me, but I don’t get _why_ , Miss Luthor.”

Lena hesitated before responding and took a moment to observe the hero and see what she was truly asking. On a surface level marrying someone else as a marriage of convenience or for politics or power was easy enough to understand. If Lena didn’t marry Supergirl then the hero would have to marry Lex or she would die.

But why had Lena, beneath the idea of saving another persons life and selling herself to them for life, agreed to save Supergirl. And she then understood what Supergirl was asking.

“National City’s maintenance budget has more than tripled in the years since your…” she waved her hand a moment as she searched for the words, “awakening as Supergirl.”

Settling back against the desk she eyed the hero and wondered if what she was about to say would change their working relationship. “I can get you the reports, if you like,” she added and folded her arms.

“The calibre of criminals and city wide dangers as a result of your position as Supergirl, and calling this city home, has increased one-hundred and thirty-seven percent.”

Supergirl’s arms tightened around her and her stance turned defensive instead of protective.

“No,” Lena interrupted as she saw Supergirl’s mouth open in protest. “No, let me finish.”

Supergirl wasn’t pleased and shifted on her feet but nodded and let Lena finish.

“Those are facts,” Lena said calmly, as though she were giving a TED Talk. “I can get them for you but… I don’t think that I need to,” she said and eyed the hero some more.

“Your battles with those other Kryptonian’s and with all of the other villains and even with my mother,” she hesitated and shared a wince with the hero, “have resulted in millions and millions of dollars worth in damages to public and private property. There have been injuries and even deaths because of your presence here.” She choose to skip over her own involvement in the Daxamite Invasion because both of them knew where the other stood on that front.

She let her words linger, noting the way Supergirl’s jaw had tightened and her lips were pressed together in displeasure.

“But,” Lena inclined her head. “You also save people,” Lena shifted a little and lowered her arms to lean on the desk behind her. “The petty crime rate has more than halved and the murder and robbery rate has also decreased. You’ve been there for forest and apartment fires and for flooding and car crashes and other accidents where humans are not the aggressor.”

She was careful with her words but wanted Supergirl to know how she felt about her while also understanding Lena’s point-of-view. It was important that she share this so that Supergirl understood. “You inspire people. You give them hope. Your very presence here gives them comfort that if they are in trouble or are scared there is going to be someone who comes to their aid, that someone strong and powerful is coming to defend them. You make them want to be better.”

“I can’t say it evens out,” Lena said and lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “That is not for me to decide. You are here. And you are here to stay.”

Supergirl didn’t quite know what to say as her mouth opened and closed for a few moments and Lena decided to rescue her.

“I agreed to marry you because you represent more than just you or me. You are more than a person, Supergirl. You are a symbol, whether you like it or not,” she added and ducked her head slightly, turning to the side and picking up her decanter.

She raised her glass in salute to the hero who had let her arms fall to her side and was staring at her with furrowed brow and looking a little lost.

“I’m willing to save that. I’m willing to protect that,” she said and took a sip from the glass.

She savoured the flavour as it burnt its way down her throat and the faint ache in her temples rang warning bells. She should probably avoid the rest of the glass but gave it a moment’s thought followed by an internal shrug, and then downed the lot.

Letting out a quiet exhale she let the glass dangle between her fingers and glanced back up at the hero and blinked.

Supergirl had gotten closer, much closer and she started in surprise before regaining her composure.

Standing a meter away blue eyes were drilling into her with such intensity that Lena thought she may have been using her x-ray vision to see….something.

They stood that way for what felt like endless moments; Supergirl with cerulean eyes trying to pry apart her walls and see into her soul, and Lena, frozen beneath the power of it.

Eventually Supergirl must have found what she was looking for because she blinked back to herself and gave a little nod.

“You agreed,” Supergirl breathed and Lena felt her brow tighten. “You didn’t know what would happen to you but you agreed anyway,” she said and then she added, “just like with the Daxamites.”

Lena tensed and felt her jaw tighten. Nausea grasped at her insides and twisted them viciously into a knot at the reminder and Supergirl winced in sympathy but kept her wide eyes on Lena.

They held Lena’s gaze, some how warm and fond and….awed?

Her heart was thumping in her chest as Supergirl inched closer and she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye of Supergirl’s hand lifting before it was positioned pointedly back at her side, fingers brushing the edge of her skirt.

“You didn’t know what Rhea would do to you, or what would happen after you married Mon El but you… you were going to do it anyway…. To save people.”

Supergirl’s voice was soft and reverent and laced with something else, something Lena couldn’t place. “You’re a hero.”

“We can do no less,” Lena rasped out, suddenly wishing the decanter in her hand was full so that she could at least offer pretences of hiding her face from the open and searching way she was being appraised. It made her feel naked and vulnerable. But Supergirl wasn’t shying away from what she was seeing, if anything she seemed to be held in awe.

Supergirl’s eyes darted between her own and she moistened her lips.

“I-“ she hesitated and then lifted her hand and Lena nearly fainted, clutching at the desk she was leaning against as though it were a pillar of the world. Her glass slid from her fingers in her shock but never reached the ground.

Supergirl was there, kneeling, and glancing up at her with eyes that had seen so many things and were both youthful with light and love, and haunted by sorrow and loss, weighted and weightless by them both.

Lena could feel her heart stampeding in her chest as her knuckles clenched around the desk so tight she feared she would cut lines into her palms by the force, or force her knuckles out through her skin.

“I- Rao-“ Supergirl began again and her golden hair tumbled around her shoulders and down her back and she hesitantly offered a velvet blue ring box. “This is hard,” she bemoaned and closed her eyes with her bottom lip snared between her teeth but when she opened them again her eyes were flinty, as unmoving as frosted steel. Determined.  “I want-no, I _needed_ , to do this properly.”

Lena’s could feel a beat in her chest, wild and untamed and free, fierce and swallowed to moisten her suddenly dry mouth.

“I know I am not your first choice,” Supergirl said fiercely, gazing up at Lena and Lena’s eyes darted between the box and Supergirl’s beautiful eyes. “I know I’m not your fairy-tale or happily-ever-after,” she added hurriedly and shook her head slightly. “But I promise that I will stand by you and support you and while I may not ever love you i-“

Supergirl cut herself off with a choked sound and her eyes closed and before they did Lena was startled to see they were glassy.

Chest heaving she waited for Supergirl to finish speaking, feeling a shiver racing over her body and something cool rousing the fine hairs at her nape and dragging the touch down her spine.

“I may not love you, but you will be mine to protect and care for and I will keep you safe,” Supergirl vowed quietly, with the soft devotion of someone kneeling before a religious symbol. “I’ll never intentionally hurt you and I’ll try to always listen and always be there when you need me. For as long as I live,” Supergirl finished and Lena heard her swallow before she lifted her eyes to her.

There was uncertainty there, and fear, in the light of the unknown, but also determination and promise.

“Lena Luthor,” Supergirl spoke quietly, almost so quietly that Lena couldn’t hear her over the pounding of her own heart. “Will you marry me?”

The ring box popped open without prompting, and in the back of her mind Lena knew that Supergirl had used her speed to open it and then return back to her position, kneeling before Lena and offering to sign her life away.

The ring, or rings, were beautiful. The smaller one was obviously the engagement ring and was a lovely and dainty silver with diamonds. There were three small diamonds winking at her with the rise and fall of Supergirl’s breathing and the etching below the stones curled delicately halfway down the silver. The wedding ring was a larger diamond and had the same etchings around it, the metal of the ring splitting into two to cradle it gently. It was a beautiful set and Lena idly wondered where Supergirl had the money for it and then internally chastised herself. The economic status of the cities hero was not hers to question or judge.

Supergirl’s face had fallen in the time it took Lena to process what was happening and her brow lowered with her shoulders and her cape seemed to hang with increasing weariness, as Lena remained silent.

“I-im so-“

“Diamonds?” Lena croaked and cleared her throat, trying to pull the tatters of her composure back around her to shield her from the world, but it was like smoke and she couldn’t grab onto it.

Supergirl gave a little shrug, seemingly bemused by the line of questioning but willing to go with it. “Um, yes? They’re pretty and the girl that sold them to me said they had some meaning.” She blinked. “I’m sure you know what they mean?” Her voice lifted in question and her head tilted to the side and the movement was achingly familiar but Lena couldn’t place it.

“Yes,” she nodded slowly. “They’re cold, hard, and with many faces,” she said stiffly, trying to organise her thoughts into some form of coherence. “Formed with immense pressure and heat.”

“They’re also beautiful, pure, and reflect and enhance the light,” Supergirl shot back and then her eyes widened and ducked to the ring a moment as though she hadn’t intended to say what had been blurted out.

Lena’s heart beat out a powerful rhythm and she swallowed as Supergirl’s fierce gaze faltered and she shifted and Lena realised how nervous she was. She also realised she had yet to answer. It was a no brainer, as she had heard one of her interns comment once. She had known her heart when she had gone to Agent Danvers, Supergirl’s original refusal had not changed that. Supergirl was needed by the world more than Lena needed a chance to _maybe_ find someone who could look past her name and see her, and maybe, just maybe, love her. She ignored the way her heart constricted and its baseline changed, ignored the pulse it was ringing as she gave a little nod. Kara. Kara. Kara. Kara.

Kara, her heart protested as Supergirl blinked and her eyes widened and glimmered with hope.

 _Kara_.

Lena shoved the emotion down, locked it away until she could open it when she was alone.

Kara, her heart fluttered valiantly against her logical decision and she pried her left hand off the bench and silently offered it to Supergirl. She was thankful that the hero ignored the way it trembled like a leaf as it was offered and recoiled when Supergirl gently touched her.

Supergirl hesitated and Lena closed her eyes and lifted her hand again, not wanting to watch herself sign her own future away, or her ideas of it. Soft, surprisingly warm fingers slid across her skin again and Lena couldn’t fight her shiver.

The metal was cold but felt like it burnt with the power of the sun as it slid easily onto her finger and she didn’t bother to wonder how Supergirl had known her ring size.

“Miss Luth-“

“Lena,” she interrupted hearing her heart wailing out a final sound and she opened her eyes and gazed down at the ring on her finger as its weak cry of _Karaaaaaaa_ fell silent.

Oddly enough it was a beautiful fit, and with how it sat on her hand she could probably have been a hand model.

“Lena,” she swallowed and lifted her eyes to Supergirl’s as the hero rose fluidly to her feet. “If we are to be married then-“ she forced down the bile at the thought. “Lena. Please.”

Supergirl nodded slowly, eyes skirting over her features and firming, but with a steady warm hold. “Lena.”

It took supreme effort to tear her eyes off Supergirl’s and she looked over the heroes blue shoulder, “What next?”

There was a pressure building in her chest and she could feel tendrils of it, cold and dark, sinking into her veins.

Supergirl straightened and her hands went to her hips powerfully before she hesitated and slowly lowered them. “I’ll, um, I’ll get Al- Agent Danvers to talk to you?”

The hero shifted on her feet and Lena realised she was fighting the urge to fidget and that, more than anything, let Lena know that she was not the only one freaking out about what had just happened.

Supergirl lowered her head to the side and glanced up at Lena through her lashes. “When do you want to…” she trailed off and waved her hand around. “Do this?”

Supergirl blinked and her head shot up suddenly. “Not that I want to pressure you or anything!” She blurted, eyes wide and genuine and the discontent swirling in her chest soothed slightly.

“I just, um, only have three days or so, according to Kal….” Supergirl winced and ran her fingers through her hair distractedly but didn’t mention Lena’s tightening spine.

“Does Saturday work?” Lena asked smoothly, taking control and saw relief enter Supergirl’s eyes.

She nodded eagerly, obviously reassured that Lena was still willing and accommodating and going to go along with whatever Lena wanted.

Supergirl left shortly afterwards, reassuring her that she would be contacted and thanked her again, and then leapt from the balcony. The silence when she had left was….odd, and almost empty and Lena wandered back to her liquor cabinet, the engagement ring burning around her hand, and poured herself a more than generous amount before tossing it back. Her head was starting to throb but she poured herself another fingers worth and sipped it slowly, thoughts pensive as she gazed out into the darkened sky of National City.

It wasn’t…ideal… for the two of them, barely acquaintances and with a lot of baggage between them, to be entering into this… union, but who knew, maybe the world had a plan for a Luthor and a Super.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?  
> Thanks for the Beta TV.
> 
>  
> 
> Right, I don't think I've ever had such controversy on a fic, so wow, I must be really good or really bad ;)  
> To address a few concerns in case I missed the comments.
> 
> I struggled with maintaining character integrity while also progressing plot. I could have had them both come clean and speak to each other but... the story would be much shorter and contain far less angst, and if you know me you know how much I love angst.... 
> 
> I tried to address Kara's thoughts on the matter (Lena's have been touched upon, but will be futher explained in one of the chapters coming up, and it reinforces Kara's decision) while also keeping to canon, though much of it is Head Canon.  
> When planning this fic I considered why Lena didnt know yet, why Kara hadnt told her or why Lena hadnt figured it out. Kara's disguise isnt that good, we all know that. Kara is willingly choosing to not tell her best friend she is Supergirl, and she knows Lena. She loves Lena. She knows that SG would be in no danger of Lena Luthor knowing all of her, so what, then, is she protecting? I decided to look deeper. Who Kara is protecting is Kara Danvers.   
> KD has hidden all of her Earth life, she has stayed in the shadows and slunk into the background, determined to be only a passing mention, a blip on the radar, nothing important. And for the most part that has worked. No one has seen KD as how remarkable she is. Cat couldnt see it, until she went looking for SG in Kara, and then she saw Kara. James already knew she was special, because Clark was special. Winn was the only person she told and even then he loved the other aspect of her (dont get me wrong I love Winn) and her connection to his hero SM. No one sees that KD is this amazing and strong and kind woman, only Lena Luthor has. LL has looked past the disguise and seen Kara, seen her through all of her walls and disguises to the woman underneath, and called KD her hero. Someone saw the person that hid how incredible KZ-El is and believes in her, in a young rookie reporter that is, really, nothing overly special, but Lena sees her. Lena sees Kara. And that is what Kara is desperate to protect. That is why she hasnt told Lena who she is.  
> Is it selfish? Yes. Is it kinda wrong? Yes, though it is her secret to tell (yes I'm looking at you Clark). Is she allowed to have someone want her for her instead of the 'S'? Of course! This is why she cant tell Lena- because she cant risk loosing the one person who sees her for her, and thinks that KD can be a hero just by being KD.
> 
> And, well, I wanted some angst. :D 
> 
> I appreciate your feedback on the matter. You all do you. Maybe we can meet on another fic- I do have a half dozen planned ;) Cheers.


	13. Chapter 13

Winn Schott enjoyed his job. He liked being able to use put IT genius and engineering skill to good use, and he liked that the people he worked with had the same ideas. They wanted to save the world. They wanted to protect people. They wanted to make a difference. And they weren’t doing it for fame or recognition, no, they merely carried on with their duty quietly.

Learning that CADMUS had accidently betrothed Kara and Lex had been an unpleasant surprise, and even more so had been the revelation that Alex had sealed the deal. Alex was horrified with herself. It hadn’t been her fault, of course, she didn’t know, but she still felt guilty and had been driven, more so than usual when Kara was concerned, to fix it. Which was why she had approached Lena Luthor in one last desperate act.

He had been the one to suggest it, offhand, that if a Super had to marry a Luthor, Lena was the obvious choice. He hadn’t known that Alex had been chewing on the idea and his comment had cemented the thought until it became an action.

Alex was quite popular in the DEO, not only was she talented and skilful, she was loyal to a fault and equally as fierce, and she was willing to do anything for the people she cared about. Just ask Helen, the DEO’s accountant. Her ex-wife was in jail for assault after drunkenly lashing out when Helen returned late from the DEO. Alex had gone in to arrest her, and had not been gentle. Alex had also stood with Helen when her ex had been sentenced and had personally ensured that the sentence was the maximum.

Alex was like that. When she had your back, she had your back. It was why, when she had asked, three of their agents had willing gone back into work off the clock to go and, in Shaw’s words, ‘try to intimidate the fuck outta the Luthor,’. It hadn’t worked, of course, and Winn hadn’t been able to stop the flare of rage and hatred directed at Lena, undeserved though it was.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Lena Luthor had shown up at the DEO (a highly classified secret organisation and base) to speak to Alex. Winn had to face J’onn’s stony glare when Lena said she had followed the hacker’s trail to the building and only Root saying that Lena was ‘just a better hacker than any of them, except her’ had gotten him off his back. Which, was actually quite nice of Root. She tended to terrify him most of the time, and his own father was a psycho, but then again, she sorta was as well.

And it was then that Winn had really dived into his research. He’d looked at it, of course, when Kara had first been…diagnosed…. But had mostly been concerned with trying to find a way out of the situation CADMUS and Alex had gotten Kara in to. Then, of course, Lena had said no and he had fallen back into his research trying to find a way out of it. Lena, as Luthor’s tended to do around here, threw a spanner in the works when she said yes.

Alex hadn’t even had to ask him to start preparations for the ritual, he had already begun. When Kara had said no to Lena he had every faith in Alex being able to convince her to when he, J’onn, James and even Kal had failed. Kara was resolutely stubborn and she and Alex had a shouting match in the centre of the DEO over it. J’onn had to tell them to take it else where, though Winn had thought that Kara was being stupid about the entire thing. Lena was giving them a solution and Kara was too pig-headed to take it.

James had been angry as well, warning them that Lena couldn’t be trusted but also pleading with Kara to accept her offer on the next breath. Kal was of two minds; he didn’t fully trust Lena either, but was willing to see it happen if it would save Kara. Alex flat out didn’t care, saying they would make sure Lena couldn’t hurt Kara and at least she would be alive. J’onn had been the voice of reason. His powerful voice rumbling in the DEO as he told them that Lena had been honest in her intentions, but that he would not violate her privacy further and tell them what they were, only that she did not intend to harm Supergirl.

Privately, Winn had wondered what he had seen in Lena’s mind to make him so certain of it, and then wondered if J’onn regretted violating her privacy by reading her mind as he didn’t like to do it, and only did so with detained suspects.  Winn had kept most of his thoughts to himself, even lifting his hands and saying that he was staying out of it when both James and Alex turned their pleading eyes on him, thinking that maybe he could convince Kara she was being stupid.

It wasn’t his decision to make, and he had told Kara that when she sought him out. He didn’t want his best friend to die, and he knew that Supergirl was needed, but he didn’t want to force Kara in to it if she didn’t want to. Kara had hugged him tight, so tight that he had thought he might crack some ribs, before releasing him with a ‘thanks Winn.’ She’d then flown off to do what Supergirl did, save the day, and Winn had quietly gone back to his research on the ritual needed.

Something told him that it would happen, and if it was happening within a deadline then he needed to be ready. He had told J’onn what he was doing, when he vanished into the bowels of the DEO, and J’onn had given his full approval, even going so far as to personally contact Superman with the plan.

Kal El had come through, returning to the DEO with schematics of clothing and translations of texts so that when Kara came back to the DEO, breathless that she had just proposed to Lena, most of the requirements were already underway.

Winn’s fingers were blistered from sewing and his eyes ached from staring at designs poorly remastered onto paper and he had only meant to rest his eyes for but a minute as he laid his head on the table.

J’onn and Kal had seen to the candles and the incense and even to the Kryptonite, because yes, Kara and Lena had to be joined together on Krypton. Unfortunately for Kara, and for Kal, Kryptonite was the only substance left of the planet in a large enough dosage to constitute as their ‘standing on Krypton’. Kara had yet to be informed that Kal had the lead lined box on standby, nor had Alex, but he doubted they would be thrilled.

The ritual was fairly basic, blood binding and with spoken word while the two stood on ‘Krypton’ and a rune for ‘together as one’ carved into the floor. To complicate matters further the rune needed to become three dimensional and Lena and Kara would have to stand inside of it. KalEx, Superman’s robot butler/teacher/house-keeper, had helped with that. It had designed the rune and carved it out in the Fortress of Solitude and it stood as high as the average ceiling and big as an SUV. Superman had to cart that to the DEO in the dark as he certainly would have drawn attention flying with what looked to be a large diamond through the sky. Candles would be placed at almost parallel sections around the rune and a drop of blood each would seal the virtue needed. The spoken word correlated with the eleven virtues of Krypton, the Girod.

Once the ritual began they had to go through with it or else they would die, and they had to stand alone to do so. It was a tough looking ceremony but J’onn had quietly assured him that it was possible to get it done on Earth, but that they would need to be very careful with how Kara interacted with the Kryptonite. Still, they had until about Tuesday, by KalEx’s maximum calculations as to how long Kara could survive, but the sooner she and Lena got hitched the better.

“I’m getting married on Saturday,” Kara breathed as she sped into the room and Winn started in surprise, jerking backwards into his chair with a thump.

Groaning he reached around to rub the sore spot and peered through bleary eyes at his best friend.

Kara was in her super-suit still, and though her eyes flared with concern as she gazed at him, he could see that she was miles away.

Wincing he rubbed at his eyes and tried to straighten in his chair as a yawn was pulled from his mouth. “What?” He asked as he blinked at her and saw her features turn from a bemused softness to a  sharp inquisition.

“What’s this?” She asked as she glanced over the plans and then she was standing next to him, looking over the translations for the ceremony and his notes on the clothing.

Not bothering to fight his yawn he pointed over to two dress-maker forms in the corner and Kara’s jaw popped open.

He’d been working on ancient Kryptonian ceremonial robes since the idea of marrying Kara off to save her life had been voiced. It may have been optimistic of him but he wanted to be ready if the unlikely happened and Lena agreed. He was thankful for his foresight he noted sleepily to himself as he rested his cheek back on the table and lazily eyed Kara as she reverently approached the two items of clothing.

Ancient Kryptonian’s were elitist snobs, he had discovered as he dove into his research. Back when the Houses considered themselves royalty and fought for control of the planet they had some very morally questionable behaviours towards an ‘other’, someone not of their House but also of the lesser class. Their revolution had probably been the best thing that could have happened for the planet; unite the Houses under one nation and give every person a duty and a place. It meant that they had a perfect ratio of population to resources, every person had a place and was needed to fill that position.

After their revolution they still kept to some of their traditions, which was why the ceremonial robe designs he and Superman- and he got to _work_ with _Superman!_ How cool was that!?- had found were all the same theme and make. It reminded him a little bit of royalty robes in some of his games, or even elf or mage robes.

The robes were white, a pure looking fabric that had layers upon layers, and the fabric shimmered gold in the light. The runes were in gold thread and where lighter fabric was required, he had substituted for lace. It was a heavy get up, Winn would know, he had stitched it all. Thankfully they were mirror images of each other, so once he had the correct measurements (and he was not about to let Lena Luthor know he had hacked into her tailor’s computer to get her measurements) cutting out the fabric had been easier. It was the sewing of the runes and sewing it all together that had taken the most time. The pads of his fingers now represented a pin cushion, void of pins, and his fingers ached and wanted to curl in on themselves. He had a sizeable tower of take-out boxes in the corner, and he’d slept about twelve hours this week. But he had managed the project.

The dress robes looked, and he wasn’t blowing his own horn here, fantastic.

They were set over a skinsuit, a skin-tight white body suit that reminded him of a wetsuit.  He had briefly drawn goggles over the photos of Lena and Kara that he had stuck into the top of the dress-maker form using some tape and kebab sticks from his tea two nights into the project. They were still there, the pictures looking tired and floppy, even as their blank eyes stared out at him from inked circles.

Then he had sent out Root and Shaw to go and buy two simple white dresses where the fabric hit the woman’s hips and then fell smoothly to the floor. It would save him the time of sewing them on and he only needed the bottom part of them anyway. He’d nearly thought Shaw would kill him with her glare but Root had seemed thrilled at the idea of mortifying her girlfriend and had dragged her away from him with a grin. Winn had been thankful to get out of that scenario and had promptly decided not to mess with Shaw again, even if it was a little bit funny to see the diminutive agent blush with Root’s overt come-on’s.

He had then been able to sew the bottom of the dresses he butchered to the bottom of what was basically a doublet, a medieval jacket of sorts, open at the forearms but held together at the wrist by a ‘S’ shaped cufflink. The runes carved into the fabric were in gold, large and faint, until the edges of the fabric where he had painfully sewn them thick and small, so that they bordered the garment.

The next piece to go on was a kilt of sorts, a stiff fabric that settled down over the thighs and curved around the back. It was held together by a sash, pinched together by the ‘S’ crest an inch or so below the line of her hips. The left-over material from the sash tie would fall down between her thighs and end just above her knee.

From his designs he could see that a heavier, thicker, stiffer fabric was needed over the top of the doublet, something like a chest and shoulder guard, if he were to think of it in Earth’s medieval armour. It stretched down across the chest like a triangle and then sat across the shoulders before moving up behind the neck and forming a stiff back collar that tapered off down behind the ears. It looked cumbersome to move in but looked completely at ease with the rest of the dress robes, it looked as though it belonged. There he, or rather his industrial sewing machine (thanks DEO!) had painfully sewn the giant ‘S’ crest into the triangular chest piece. It looked magnificent, a sort of fabric armour, and the white cloak with the gold on the inside of the hood made it look even better. Over all Winn was very happy with how they had turned out, and from the look on Kara’s face, she was too.

Yawning again he blinked and tried to force his eyes open and the strain was starting to get to him.

“What’d Lena say?” He mumbled and rubbed his hand on his sleeve, ignoring the ink stain and food smear. He’d close his eyes for just a minute. Just to rest them. “Did you kneel?”

Kara was softly stroking the stiffened fabric of her crest over the chest of the taller dress-marker form, Supergirl’s head blown up and staring at her. “Yes,” she said absently, mindlessly running her finger-tip along the pipping of the ‘S’.

Winn hummed lowly, he’d express greater excitement when he had the energy, but now it was the best he could do.

“She believes in Supergirl,” Kara offered softly, body soft before the two dress-robes and he eyed her blurry form, trying to make himself wake up. “She,” Kara hesitated, “ she believes in _me._ It’s, she’s…Lena doesn’t entirely agree with Kal and I,” Kara said and turned to face him and he tried to lift his head but it was too heavy. He grunted his acknowledgement, but didn’t think she was telling him more than she was telling herself.

“She doesn’t like the damage we cause, or the villains we attract, but she likes how we save people and how we inspire them. She agreed to save me so that I could save others.”

Kara paused and when she spoke again he started at the sound, starting to nod off, and he was able to hear the hesitance in her next words.

“I don’t know how its gonna turn out.” Winn could picture the frown furrowing her brow and the slight pout to her lips. “I don’t know what the Bond thing is going to do to us but… I want to try.”

“Did you tell her?” Winn mumbled into his sleeve and the taint of several days working in the same clothes without break or shower was evident and he moved his arm. He knew that Kara had wanted to tell Lena about her for a while, a few weeks before the Invasion, but the Invasion certainly solidified the idea. The official policy of the DEO was that no, you cannot tell anyone you are Supergirl. The fact that Lena was a genius billionaire with vast resources and technology made it worse, and her last name was the final nail in the coffin as far as the DEO was concerned.

J’onn didn’t want her to be in danger, and as far as he was concerned anyone knowing was a potential danger, look at what had happened with Alex being kidnapped.  James and Winn had been wary of the Luthor name as well, though Winn understood a little bit about facing murderous expectations in a way that James couldn’t. Sometimes he wondered if he was going to turn out like his father and felt the deepest amount of empathy for the youngest Luthor. At least people forgot about Winslow Schott Junior until his dad escaped. The entire world was waiting, and hoping probably, for Lena to fall, just so they could say that they knew she was bad, that all Luthor’s were bad. So, Winn got that, he got trying to rise above expectations, but at least he didn’t have the world watching him, waiting for him to fall to his knees. Lena had his respect for that, at least, even if she did turn out to be a genocidal maniac like her brother and mother.

 No one else really understood it, and it took him a while to come to that conclusion too, to look past Lena’s lineage and try to see the person. So, no, while he was wary of Lena, it was because she was brilliant, and could do some serious damage to Kara if she wanted to, but he would judge her on her actions, not on the sins of her name. It was the least he could do, and the thought had been hammered home when Kara and Alex had one of their last shouting matches about Lena, and really, Alex should know by now that she shouldn’t bring up a last name as proof of someone’s character, Kara shot that one down spectacularly, by bringing up her own lineage and then even Winn’s.

It had been food for thought and to his shame Winn had realised that he was doing to Lena what people did to him, judge him by the shadow his last name cast, rather than his own character. He wouldn’t say he trusted Lena, not yet. She didn’t know _the_ _secret_ and he’d only met her once, but if he were to weigh her sins against her actions, then he would be faced with a woman who used her money and influence to help people, no matter where they were from or what they were. All you had to do was look at her record.

Lena donated millions of dollars to charity every year, tens of millions. She also had numerous scholarships and funds set up, and was a frequent benefactor of balls and charity events. She also initiated a friendly, more inclusive work force for her company, with minorities and LGBT. Plus, Winn knew from his first hack of L-Corp, that the benefits the company offered were some of the best in the country. Lena took care of her people. And then there was the mess with Medusa and the Daxamite’s.

Winn had been, to his regret, quick to jump on the anti-Lena bandwagon when the DEO realised what Lena had helped do; bring the Daxamite fleet to Earth. But Kara had argued for Lena, and Mon El had given his own report of the events, and had noted that Lena only cooperated to save lives. Oddly enough it had been Shaw who had pointed out that Lena thought she was sending someone home, that she was helping send an alien home, and wouldn’t any of them, them being Kara and J’onn, want someone to help them get back home? There had been silence for a long moment as her words had been considered, and then Lena was moved from a willing participant and aggressor, to one of the many victims of Rhea.

Alex was wary of Lena and always had been. She had a lot of plans in case Lena did anything (and Kara was never going to find out about them because whenever anyone brought up how dangerous Lena was they met Kara’s pout) but she needed Lena and had to deal with that. Plus Kara had been mentioning her desire to bring Lena to Game Night’s for the past few months, and Winn knew it was eating her that she couldn’t share all of her friends together. They were important to Kara.

After the whole ‘marry Lena to save your life’ revelation Winn had watched, and listened, as Kara and Alex had massive arguments in the middle of the DEO, in the cafeteria, in the training room, even in the storage room, over Kara telling Lena. Alex had been steadfast, wanting Lena to save Supergirl but not willing to risk Kara’s identity. Kara just wanted her friend to know but only oddly ever got into the argument whenever Alex said that she couldn’t tell Lena. Up until then she was always hesitant and reluctant to tell Lena because she was scared of losing her as a friend.

Odd how being told ‘Lena was a Luthor and she could be dangerous’ was the trigger to activating the ‘Luthor defence squad’ consisting of one irate Kryptonian. Privately Winn thought Alex should avoid that topic and let Kara mull over telling Lena herself, because it appeared that without the prompting Kara was stuck between the two decisions, stuck between her selfishness and her honesty. Winn didn’t envy her.

“No,” Kara’s reply was abrupt and it was enough for him to force an eye open. She was blurry and looked odd in blue, haloed by the white from the Kryptonian robes. “I thought I could do this without telling her but…. No. I _have_ to tell her. I know she needs Kara but…she needs to know… even if… even if she changes her mind…”

Winn snorted to himself. Lena Luthor didn’t strike him as the type to change her mind, and he doubted that learning that Supergirl and her best friend were the same, and that she had to marry Kara to save her life, would get Lena to change her mind. She’d go through with it, whether or not she was happy about the lie would depend on how deeply she felt about Kara. She’d feel the betrayal, certainly. Everyone had been lying to her, and her friendship with Kara would feel fake and she would probably feel used. But Winn doubted she would let any harm come to Kara, and that meant standing by Supergirl.

Still, there was bound to be some animosity and hurt regardless of how she found out. He only hoped that she cared enough for Kara to override her feelings of betrayal.

Winn yawned again and Kara appeared at his side squeezing his shoulder and helping him out of his chair. Being carried like a child would bother him on another day, but he was too tired to complain as Kara whizzed him through the DEO for destination unknown.

“She’s not gonna change her mind,” Winn slurred as he was set down and it was dark and soft and warm and he curled up on the bed.

“Thanks Winn,” Kara’s voice sounded distant and he grunted before pulling the pillow closer as a blanket was laid over him.

“Mh.” He didn’t remember much after that, only the sound of the door clicking shut and fading footsteps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Winn for you all ;)
> 
> Thank you for the Beta TV!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated :)
> 
>  
> 
> Right, to re-address this, as I dont think we are all meeting somewhere in the middle. 
> 
> I get that Kara's decision may feel on the extreme end of her character, however, as I addressed in the last chapter note, I feel it is not outside of reason. The CW has Kara not tell Lena she is SG for plot reasons, this fic is the same. That being said, the two are not in a romantic relationship, SG and LL. They are acquaintances, not really friends, or anything closer. They know each other in passing, have a mutual respect for one another and share a bit of baggage. That is it. It is SG and LL getting married, but it is for political reasons.
> 
> In order for this fic to work I had my characters and my plot, I had to compromise on both in order to meet in the middle, but I like to think it doenst seem so AU that it isnt out of character, even if I did have to lean on them a little to get the fic where it needs to go. It needs the angst to work, otherwise there is no fic. I have read many fics where she knows and where she doesnt, and I have enjoyed them both and this is my exploration of it. 
> 
> Many of my favourite fics (and likely some of yours) walk the line between the decision. Is it worse having SG/LL bang without Lena knowing or SG/LL entering a political alliance without her knowing? Because that is how I am viewing it, and how I am intending it, though I may not be as successful on the latter as I would like. This is a paper marriage, not a heart one. Of course the Bond complicates things, but that is another point.
> 
> On Krypton Marriage was a way to join the two houses, it was not done out of love or affection, or at least not in this fic. SG does not see it like a earth marriage, she seems it as an advancement of her house. Lena is viewing it as a business agreement (which will be addressed next chapter) and not the romantic loving one she had once envisioned. 
> 
> Would I have her tell Lena if they were dating? Yes, absolutely. If they were in a romantic relationship, either KD and LL, or SG and LL, then yes, I wouldnt want them to get married without that secret being shared. But they arent. They are entering a business agreement, with more positive consequences than the negative ones. (SG doesnt die)
> 
> They are both willingly entering this, is it the lesser of two evils? Yes, but they are both willing adults. (would Lena's decision change if she knew SG was KD? No, but plot),
> 
> Kara is being selfish? Yes, but she is being selfish in Canon, and so is James (regardless of if you approve of GC, he is lying to her about himself, and so is Kara, and then they are lying about SG- not very nice. They are purposely trying to mislead her and keep her off their scent- its just nasty no matter how you look at it and will only make the fall out worse the longer it goes on). - which leads to the angst in my fic.
> 
> This fic is designed for angst, the most possible, and while it may seem slightly out of character for the decisions to happen so that 'plot', then that is how it has to be. But I do understand some of your concerns. However, the plot is going where it is going. 
> 
> No hard feelings to anyone who doesnt wish to continue, but I suggest you read the next chapter and see what Lena thinks of it.
> 
> That being said, happy reading all. Whether it is on this fic, any of my other fics, or any other Supercorp fic you enjoy.  
> Mwah.


	14. Chapter 14

Saturday rolled around quicker than Lena would have liked.  She spent the morning at work, further reinforcing Jess’ idea of her being a workaholic, and had then been driven back to her apartment to panic. And panic she did.

It wasn’t as though she hadn’t prepared herself for what was going to happen, she had, it was just that… she was not ready for it. She was getting married, and not just married-married, but like alien-married. Not that Supergirl didn’t seem like a perfectly honourable spouse to be, but Lena had no idea what to expect.

It wasn’t a traditional Kryptonian marriage, it was an ancient and mostly unknown ritual, involving blood, and that, more than anything terrified her. She had no idea what to expect or what would be required, and she hated the unknown, it meant she couldn’t plan for it. She liked lists, she liked to be prepared, it gave her some sort of control when control in her life was so hard to come by.

Agent Danvers had come to see her the day after Supergirl had proposed, and Lena had the ring in her pocket, burning through her pants and into her skin the entire time, and had told her when she was expected and gone over the ceremony briefly.

She would arrive and everything would be set up. She would then go stand with Supergirl on what was left of Krypton and then say their version of vows. Blood would be required, and she had fought down her wince at the knowledge. It seemed archaic, but blood was binding and hers was needed. But then she had questioned Alex about Supergirl’s blood and had been informed, rather tersely, that Supergirl would be, for all appearances, human for the ceremony as Kryptonian’s didn’t have such power under their own sun and the ceremony wouldn’t work if Supergirl had hers. Which, of course, meant that they would be using red sun lamps and Supergirl would be ‘human’ for the duration of their ceremony. It was sort of comforting, actually, to know that she would be meeting Supergirl as an equal of sorts, rather than standing next to a god.

Alex had told her that while the DEO was unsure on what the consequences of their marriage would be, they were on full standby in case something unusual happened. They would also be paying for Supergirl’s share of any expenses, which Lena had nearly snorted at because she doubted the DEO, for all that they were a secret government agency, had the resources she did. She _was_ a billionaire.

It was really the Bond that was concerning her. It offered only more questions and she was apprehensive about what would happen to her, and also, what she might have to do. A thought barely formed still lingered in the shadows of her mind, forced back into the darkness the moment Lena realised it. What would she be expected to do as a wife or mate to Supergirl?

Before Krypton had exploded Lena knew that children were bred and formed in incubation chambers by using DNA from both parents. It was marvellous technology and while Queen Rhea had been going to take hers and make a child with Mon El, the doors it opened for same-sex couples, or for those who struggled with getting pregnant and carrying children, were priceless. As sickened as she had been by the thought, the scientist in her, and the one who wanted to help as many people as possible, had wanted to see the technology and know how it worked so she could implement it on earth. With ironclad guidelines, of course. Such technology could certainly be abused, the intended child she would have had with Mon El case in point.

The idea of creating a perfect child for a pre-determined roll was…quite clever. The child would be groomed for their purpose and trained for it, they would never be unwanted, and they would be the perfect piece for the Kryptonian machine. They didn’t have to ‘mate’ with their partners to produce offspring, and from her research (and of course she had done her research the moment Alex came to her and begged for her help) they generally didn’t engage in physical intimacy with their mates.  So she wasn’t concerned with pre-explosion Kryptonian unions and her obligations to Supergirl, but the ritual she was partaking in was ancient, archaic, so the expectations would be different. She didn’t know how old this ritual was, or when consummating the union for the express purpose of both binding the two together, and obtaining offspring, ended.

She wasn’t ready to be a parent, though she wasn’t sure how that might happen, she certainly didn’t have the equipment, but maybe Supergirl did? Which, that would be an odd conversation. Was she actually biologically the same as Lena? Or did her evolutionary progress give or take parts of her that Lena would find different. It was something Lena would have to address, after, of course, the matter of the consummation or not of their marriage.

She wasn’t so sure she could sleep with a stranger, not with strings attached and knowing she would see and speak and know Supergirl afterwards. And one would only have to look between them both to realise that Lena, beneath the makeup and ridiculously expensive clothing, was short and fat where as Supergirl was lean and tall and gorgeous. She was a goddess… and Lena was painfully mortal, and not even Helen of Troy mortal, more like a better dressed Dolores Umbridge.

She hardly wanted a virtual stranger to see her naked and vulnerable, let alone touch her. She was afraid of that, a little, she had to admit. Plus the thought of sleeping with anyone apart from the woman she had only recently admitted she had a crush on seemed like a betrayal. But Kara would never look at her anyway, she was far too good and full of light to look at Lena who was in the shadows.

Opening her fridge she grabbed one of her bottles of citrus beer and popped the cap. She took a moment to toss the cap in the bin before tilting her head back and doing her teenage-hood proud, she downed the lot.

It was cool as it slid down her throat and she held her breath as she guzzled it all, swallowing the bubbles. She winced slightly as she set the bottle on the bench. She normally wasn’t a fan of beer, but this beer was sweeter and flavoured, and didn’t taste like shit.

Breathing a little heavier for having held her breath for so long, she rinsed the bottle and wandered back to her glass recycling bin and tossed it inside. Her house keeper would see to taking out the rubbish, recycling, and the cleaning and shopping like she usually did.

Passing back into her kitchen she glanced at the clock, it was three-ten, and she was due to arrive at the DEO at four in time for her wedding at four-thirty. She suddenly needed another drink.

By passing the kitchen she made quickly for the den and opened her liquor cabinet. She had a fine collection of some of the world’s best alcohols and was in need of the strongest she had.

Snatching a glass, she poured herself a generous amount and downed it, ignoring the burn and the awful flavour combination between her beer and her whisky.

Clearing her throat she poured herself another and capped the bottle. Letting the glass dangle from her fingers, but cautious of spilling it, she wandered to her bedroom, the carpet soft on her feet.

If she was gonna get married she had to make sure she dressed the part. Something strong. Something powerful. Something to protect her.  She also wanted to look good. If she had to get married she was gonna do it looking fabulous. As a Luthor she could do no less.

She wanted to go for casual but not too casual, and formal but not too formal. There needed to be a good balance between the two, especially because she was walking into the lion’s den. Imposing enough to be a challenger, but not too threatening, especially as she was both a Luthor, and a stranger to the DEO.

Taking a moment to stand in her closet, which, she knew was about the size of Kara’s lounge and dining area, she mentally ran through her clothing choices.

Too bold.

Too black.

Far to meek.

Bland.

Passable.

No.

No.

Boring.

She’d worn that recently.

Ah, yes. That would do.

She nodded to herself and then moved into her bathroom on auto-pilot, mind churning along at a pace that most people would find intimidating or be in awe of. She didn’t need to concentrate as she washed and shampooed her hair and shaved.

Stepping out of the shower she thought briefly of the ring she had set down on the benchtop-away from the sink because she didn’t want to have to explain that to Agent Danvers. From her, and Lex’s, research she knew that typically Kryptonian’s didn’t exchange rings, they exchanged bracelets, but Supergirl had given her a ring probably to make her feel more comfortable. Now that she thought about it, Lena wouldn’t have minded a bracelet. Easier to conceal, because she was a lot of things but she didn’t think she could hide being married- not that she would tell anyone, but she believed that if she were going to do this, then she would do it properly. Part of that, to her, involved wearing the ring, or at least having it on her person at all times. She had even looked at a few necklaces to hang it from- that at least could be explained away. Abruptly showing up with a ring on her finger would be a little more difficult.

As she towelled herself dry she considered what she could say to Supergirl to make this easier. On them both.

Supergirl had agreed to marry her to save her life, which was a very human thing to do, but at least she had asked Lena why she was helping before she had agreed after so rudely turning her down the first time. Lena wasn’t about to lie; there had been a faint string of rejection there, even if she hadn’t meant the proposal from her heart.

And then Supergirl had come back to her, asking her why she, of all people, would agree to such a proposal. Lena had been honest, even if she was slightly afraid of how her honesty could be taken. Supergirl had let her voice a few of her doubts about her hero-ing without screaming how much of a ‘Luthor’ she was, she appeared to even listen to her concerns, even though Lena doubted she was the only one voicing them.

Truthfully she had no issue with the Super’s, not really, it was, as she had explained to Supergirl, something that couldn’t be helped. Human nature won out. By their very existence humans had found the biggest fish, as it were, and challenged it to a fight. These days instead of lions and beers, it was death or Mother Nature herself. It was only fitting that some humans saw the apparent worship and rulership of the aliens as a direct challenge to humanities authority and came out to fight. Unfortunately for Lena, one of those extremists was her brother and now her mother, so she was worried how Supergirl may have taken her concerns.

Thankfully the hero seemed to understand, and it wasn’t like Lena was the only one who had voiced them. The people themselves had, back when Supergirl first stepped into the light, so she can’t have been unaware of her impact. But part of that was how she inspired people and gave them hope. And Lena wasn’t so hypercritical to ignore help when it was offered, especially if she was about to be shot, crushed by her own concrete ‘L’ or die in a plane crash.

Supergirl helped people. No matter what damage she may cause otherwise, and how criminals left, right and centre were using the ‘Supergirl excuse’ as a way to get released or shorten their sentence when she acted more physically than they would like. It was what she ‘did’. She inspired people to want to be better, to want to help each other, she gave them hope. And that was the reason Lena couldn’t just sit back and let her die, because she really doubted Supergirl would be willing to marry Lex. Lex would probably have an aneurism at the thought and then try and hurt Supergirl somehow, so it wouldn’t be a viable option even if the Super agreed.

But still, she liked Supergirl. She had saved her life. The two of them had similar visions for the world while still seeing it for what it was. Lena and Supergirl both saw humanity for what it could be, and both used what they had to make that vision a reality, to make it better.

She was applying her make-up, not too imposing but not too vulnerable either, as she considered the velvet box she’d had completed in a rush order, paying through the roof to get it done on time and for anonymity. Money did have its perks. Sometimes she liked to throw money at a problem and watch it disappear. It was the Luthor in her.

After Supergirl had flown away, and Lena had shakily finished the rest of her bottle of scotch, to her regret come morning, she had sat at her desk for a long time, staring at the ring on her finger and trying to compartmentalise what she had just done.

The sun had started to peak over the horizon before she had fully returned to herself, and with it, she had started to plan.

The design program on her computer, and the one that L-Corp used, was one she had designed herself. It was compatible with any device connected to the L-Corp severs and could be used across multiple platforms. Opening it she made sure that she used her secure, private server for the new project, and opened a new file.

Lex’s database on Superman and all things Kryptonian was something only she and he had access to, and she only by luck and skill, and a little bit of left over hope that Lena may join him. Of course then he had gone to jail and Lena had frantically collected all of the data she could find and had thrown it into a Pandora’s Box server to hide it from the FBI and she’d thrown away the key.  Lena had made sure that the governments greatest computer minds had only been able to see that the information had been there, that it had existed, but not able to access any of the information that had been there previously. It hadn’t been difficult.

The LuthorCorp firewalls were ahead of the competition, and the upper management and those with clearance had access to even more files behind it. Lex and Lena had developed their own server, and had sent the satellite into space, to guard their most precious and private digital resources, among them their numerous back accounts, and Lex’s files on Superman. It was all on the server, hard to locate let alone hack, and only a Luthor knew how to get in. The access code changed every twenty-four hours. Lex had once laughed about how it would be easier hacking the Nuclear Launch Codes that the President of the United States had access to over accessing their satellite. It was their pride and joy for years. Until Lex had built his own server inside it and Lena had respected his privacy enough to not ask, and had then regretted it when three years later he threw himself at Superman in a titan grudge match.

A broken and betrayed teenager had then hacked her brothers most private sanctum and torn her way through the information there, desperate not to believe it but finding files and files of guilt. Lena had taken it, taken all of it and locked it in her own server, determined to never let anyone get access to it, and resolute that Lex, if he ever got out, would never get it back. She had hidden then, disbelieving as the world had turned on Lex, rightly so, and then on her. She stood steady as insults and death threats and promises of violence and revenge were hurled at her online and in person. She’d hidden behind carefully vetted bodyguards and locked herself in the most secure buildings she could as Luthor hatred skyrocketed, the families’ friends and associates quickly distanced themselves. Jack had been one source of comfort, until he had received death threats as well and she had ripped herself away. She could handle it happening to her, she deserved it, she was a Luthor, but Jack didn’t deserve any of it.

The only time she had ever looked over the information Lex had gathered was the night he had been sentenced. She’d nearly drunk herself into a coma that night, straining her eyes as she peered through the words and symbols and images, imprinting everything through her tears. It was one of the only times she regretted her photographic memory- she remembered everything. Everything that Lex had planned for Superman, or Clark Kent as he was known on Earth, and every thing he had done to the aliens on earth, and what he had learnt from them. Every dissection. Every torture session. Every family torn apart. Every crime. Every. Single. Thing. She’d been repulsed then, by the man her beloved brother had turned into, and knew that nothing he could ever say or do could make up for what she had seen him support. CADMUS had been Lex Luthor’s brain child, a secret division of the US Military tasked with A) finding these alien refugees, B) bringing them in alive (preferably) and C) taking their resources and milking them for everything they had, including dissecting them, while some were still alive, in order to find out how they worked and how humanity could use them to further their own greed. Disgusted by that Lena had instead turned to looking at the files on Superman and Krypton, hoping that in those there could be hope. And there was.

Krypton was wonderful. It was futuristic and fantastic. The entire population working seamlessly together to further their race, to make Krypton better. There was no poverty or crime or violence. Instead they had open forums for discussion, with a democratic council of representatives from their Guilds. There was no illness or disease and the knowledge and architecture had featured heavily in her dreams since. It was everything Lena had wanted from humanity, in theory.

In practice Krypton had its issues. The ruling body were traditionalist, elitist, snobs concerned with only maintaining their balance and power and their arrogance meant that they had destroyed themselves. The higher class, the people in the positions of power and influence (the science and medical and military guilds) looked down upon the labour guild and the pedestrian workers.

Each child had a purpose, but they were judged heavily on their ability to get into that position and be good at it. Discrimination was down to a science. The average Kryptonian, who would be considered among the leading minds of earth, and among the greatest athletes, were looked down upon, and those born to be earths equivalent of a janitor or even a retail worker, were treated poorly. Each of the great Houses were arrogant and proud and inclusive, loftily carrying on the family name and legacy without care for how the lower classes were treated. It sort of reminded Lena of how old aristocracy worked, you had the royalty, which were the heads of the Guilds and Houses, and they had their extended families and other families of wealth and influence were nobles, Lord’s and Lady’s, and then you had the peasants. The gap between them was extensive.

Everything was artificial, from the cloned animals and food, to the robot servants. All their lives were monitored by science and machines so that they could all better their society, but it was at the cost of the personal freedom of its citizens. They didn’t consider the choice of something else, they were born to fill each purpose, and desertion wasn’t heard of.

Kryptonian’s thought they were great, and while they had many great things, they also had a lot of issues that were present on Earth. It wasn’t a utopia as Kal-El liked to proclaim of his home planet.

She hadn’t viewed these files since that night, locking them from her memory and hiding it so that the information would never see the light of day. It was part self-preservation and part protection. She didn’t want anyone else getting hold of Lex’s research, and plans, in case they had the same outcomes for Superman in mind. She also didn’t want to be confronted with it where ever she went- plans and designs for killing machines or ways to draw Superman out, to distract him, usually with innocents, while Lex dealt a killing blow. No, it was best for everyone involved that the information never got out.

Walking naked into her room she began to dress herself, choosing some plain lingerie and then stepping into her walk-in closet to get her outfit. She’d decided to go with a green blouse, which Kara had told her brought out her eyes, and black jeans. She topped the look with some nice heel shoes, the wedge sneaker heels that were all the rage a few years ago, and gave her the height she wanted but also kept her casual. A black leather jacket went on top and she let her hair down, letting it fall naturally in waves before considering the use of her straighteners.

It took her a few minutes and then she worked on her make-up, nothing too imposing but nothing casual either. There needed to be a perfect balance.

Once she was certain she was presentable, and her version of armour was in place, she selected a simple purse. All she needed was her wallet containing her cards, ID, and a few loyalty cards, and her phone.

Walking through her silent apartment she wondered if she would return a different person and the thought kept her silently contemplative as she snatched a set of keys from her key-holder. Making sure her security was set she made her way out into the small hallway for the tenants at the top of the building and headed to the elevator.

She lived on the top floor of one of the securest buildings in the city. To get to the top you needed an elevator key, and a palm scan before the lift would rise to the secure floors. From there you would enter into a secure room with a handful of guards as well as another x-ray machine and a computer would measure your steps and posture and compare it with pre-programmed data to ensure that you were who you said you were. The elevator at the end of the hall required a retinal scan, and another key. It was time consuming to rise to the top, but their security was top notch and no one, on various trails and tests, had been able to make it to the top floor without detection and detaining.

Lena, as the one who had designed the security, had also added another feature to the five-inch-thick steel doors and walls of the private elevator. If an unauthorised person gained access security was able to flood the elevator with gas and render them unconscious. It was a little nastier than Lena traditionally enjoyed, but it would do the job and she liked having the security of it.

Fortunately going down was easier, and for guests, once they passed the first layer of security and then made it to the secure floor, they could be called up directly to the top floor, as long as someone had already authorised it.

Her journey to the bottom floor was uninterrupted and she emerged into the private garage and made her way to one of her parking spaces. One of the good things about L-Corp was that, for the most part, she was driven everywhere and didn’t have to comb the city for parking spaces, and the building had its own parking. She dreaded the thought of having to take public transport everywhere and parking was ridiculous.

One of her cars was a sleek black Audi and she strode over to it and placed her palm on the window. After purchasing it she had stripped it down and rebuilt it, adding her own modifications to the frame, windows, and, of course, the engine. It would be barely recognisable if someone were to look a little closer, and if they did, they may identify it, wrongly, as the armoured car of the range, but they weren’t to know that Lena had added her own Luthor flare.

The body was built using her own steel, capable of easily withstanding gunfire and even grenades, but at a fraction of the weight. The windows were bulletproof but also had miniaturised computer sensors which allowed the cars information system to identify where the damage was occurring and how long it could last. She’d added her own sensors to allow the car to drive itself, relying on a GPS system and satellites, and she could summon every police officer within five miles with the press of a button. There was even an offensive measure which she had added as a precaution she hoped to never use, a voice activated automated aiming system connected to two machine guns. Luthor’s never did anything half-arsed, and her town car was proof of that.

By pressing her palm against the window she unlocked it as the biometric scanners in the glass recognised her. Once inside she carefully shut the door and placed her handbag on the passenger seat and pressed the button to turn the car on.

It rumbled to life instantly, purring beneath her and she gave it a moment to warm up while she ran through her checks, making sure there was no one coming before she backed out of her parking space.

The drive to the DEO was swift, the cars on-board computer system accessing local traffic reports and guiding her on the quickest route.

Soon she was indicating and turning into the buildings parking. It was subtle, identical to the dozen other buildings around it. On the outside of course. Large windows, tinted and reflective, (and bulletproof) with simple doors to the building. On the inside there would be a casual guard at reception and a half dozen camera’s watching any visitors every move. Then you would have to go through the elevator, which wasn’t an actual elevator and instead opened up into the security area behind it…. As well as the dozen and a half agents waiting for the visitors clearance. Lena knew. She’d had to go through them on her way in last time and had waited, impatiently in case a few of the agents were trigger happy, for Agent Danvers to come and retrieve her.

This time she merely wound down her window as she drove up to the barrier and lifted a brow at the guard on duty. He paled but lifted the barrier and Lena turned back to the front as she lifted her window, trying to swallow her own nerves.

Once underneath the building, which was far smaller than the structure above it, which did make sense, she drove past agents with guns who watched her suspiciously as she got closer.

She was directed to a park by the way the lights were green and red, with some of the red parks even being vacant, and only a few were green.  Plus there was a line of Agents standing next to it and blocking her path, with the first agent pointing at the empty park.

Once parked she took a moment to gather her nerves and shrouded herself in her Luthor armour while there was no one present to witness it. She couldn’t appear to be weak, even if she was about to become a reluctant ally of the DEO.

Certain she had collected herself, Luthor mask in place, she grabbed her belongings and exited her car, pressing her palm to the window and waiting until she heard the click before pulling away.

“Miss Luthor.”

It was Shaw and she looked casual as she stood next to the other agents who were in full combat gear as though expecting someone to try and ram their way through the barrier and assault the building. She was still in uniform but she only had a visible handgun strapped to her hip, but Lena suspected she had other hidden weapons on her person.

“Sameen,” Lena inclined her head as Shaw directed her towards the elevator and the agents around her returned to their positions. “Good to see you again.”

Shaw returned her friendly greeting with a sharp nod but said nothing further and the silence grew as she was escorted through the elevator and into the DEO. She passed a lot of security but with Sameen with her she navigated them quickly.

“I won’t insult you by insisting you hand over your belongings,” Shaw commented as they walked through a scanner and waved off the agents and then glared at them when her instruction didn’t get through to them. Lena allowed herself a smile but then carefully kept her face blank.

She and Shaw understood each other. Back when she had been a teenager, and LuthorCorp had many contracts with the US Military, there had been speculation of one of their contractors selling weapons designed for the US to other interested parties. Suspecting LuthorCorp the US Army Intelligence had sent in their best team to investigate. That team included Sameen Shaw.

She was stationed at the Luthor Manor as a bodyguard and a tutor for a young Lena, who had very quickly caught on to who Shaw worked for and why she was there. To Shaw’s surprise Lena had been quietly determined, certain in her families innocence of treason but also willing to let them find what they needed to prove it. She’d managed to gain Sameen’s respect during their time together and had quietly missed her presence. Seeing her again, following Agent Danvers into her office, had been a surprise but a welcome one.

“Thank you,” Lena said quietly and cast a glance at her former bodyguard. They weren’t friends, barely even acquaintances, but Sameen had protected her fiercely while she was part of her mission and Lena hadn’t forgotten. Nor would her potential kidnappers once Shaw had finished with them.

“You can get ready in here,” Shaw said after a few minutes of walking the winding corridors and Lena privately wondered if that was one of the ways they kept intruders at bay, the seemingly endless twists and turns within the bowels of the DEO. She passed barracks, training rooms, meeting rooms, store-rooms, comms rooms, even weaponry rooms. Her footsteps paused as they passed by a large room with unfamiliar looking tech inside and she had to turn her head to try and see as much of it before she was dragged onward.

The room she had been taken to was small in size and simple. It had a stale scent to it and she identified the cause as a pile of pizza boxes in the corner and noted that they must have been there for a while as she took in the rest of the room.

There was a large rectangular table in the centre with what looked like the contents of a seamstress’ shop strewn on it as well as stacks of paper with drawings on them. Mounds of white scrap fabric were piled on the floor as though they were land mines and pieces of thread and other cut offs were cast on the floor as though seaweed on a beach.

In the corner were two dressmaker forms, one absent, and the other with-

Lena came to an abrupt halt as she stared at the dress.

It was beautiful, objectively, and the craftsmanship was exquisite, from a distance.

“I’ll leave you to get changed,” Shaw said and Lena barely registered her leaving as she was so focused on the dress, or was it a robe? It was hard to tell.

The bottom of the dress, she decided to call it a dress, was long and flowing, following the curve of the dress-maker form and flaring slightly at the hips but then falling gracefully to the floor. On top of that was some sort of stiff medieval thigh armour. It curled at the thighs and spread around the back, and as Lena got closer, she could see that it arched up the spine to protect the rest of the precious organs from the back. It was held together by a blindingly white sash with gold runes stitched into it and was clasped at the front with a familiar House glyph.

Over the torso was a jacket with a split seam from the elbow down to the wrist but held together with a cufflink in the shape of the ‘S’ crest. Lena felt her lip twitch as she got closer and looked over the rest of the dress. The jacket had unfamiliar runes stitched into it and she cast a glance at the industrial sewing machine silent in the corner and knew she had it to thank for the sharp stitches.

The same stiff looking fabric had been laid over the jacket in a triangular pattern and Lena knew it would likely be repeated the same at the back. The ‘S’ crest had been sewed proudly into that fabric and Lena could see the way it curved around the neck, lifting up behind the ear and forming a stiff collar below the head.

A white cape, no cloak, was attached at the back and Lena could see the inner layer was a gold fabric instead of the classic white and she rolled her eyes as she stood back.

“It took me all week,” a voice came from behind her and Lena spun around.

A man stood, well, slumped against the doorframe, but his tired eyes were proud as he looked past her and to the dress.

Yawning he stumbled a little into the room and blinked blearily at her and then at the dress. “I think I’ve only slept six hours?” He trailed off with a little hum of thought and Lena narrowed her eyes at him. He looked familiar.

He was wearing jeans and a blue  shirt with a myriad of stains on it and there was several days worth of stubble clinging to his jaw.

“I know you,” she said suspiciously and he straightened a little and tried to make it look as though he’d done more than work himself to exhaustion in the week he had alluded to.

“Winn,” he said and rubbed his eyes. “We meet at your-“

“The black body field generator,” Lena said as she recalled where she had seen him.

His eyes lit up a little. “You remember!”

“I remember everything,” Lena said and eyed him again. “You’re friends with Kara.”

She didn’t miss his stiffening, or the way his eyes snapped around to meet hers but she passed it off to be addressed later.

He gave a little nod and slowly entered the room, jamming his fingers in the back of his jean pockets.

“You don’t have to wear it but….” Winn trailed off and turned to look at her properly and the fierceness of his gaze wasn’t diminished by how red his eyes were or the dark bags beneath them.

“Kryptonian’s mate-er, “ he glanced to the side, “marry for life.”

Lena knew this but stayed silent, wondering if she could get more information out of him, see if he knew something she didn’t.

“She… Supergirl would have been married by now had Krypton not exploded… to a worthy family.”

His brow creased as he looked away from her and she could tell by the angle of his gaze that he was looking at the ‘S’ crest on the dress.

“You’re actually worthy,” he said suddenly and ran his fingers through his hair with a shaky laugh.

Lena felt herself tense. “What?” She barked out, sharper than she intended if Winn’s wince was anything to go by, but she didn’t apologise.

“Yeah ah, um, so there is an AI program that came with her to earth and it decided you were worthy… congratulations?” His voice rose slightly in question and he rubbed his face sheepishly.

“Anyway,” he said as Lena reeled internally. Learning that she was considered worthy of Supergirl was a little bit of a surprise and she wondered what the criteria for qualification were. Wealth and intelligence maybe? What else could a great House desire for a match? It was something for her to think on and she shoved it into the box she tended to use for all things Super, and related to less than platonic feelings for Kara, to think of later, if ever.

“She’s wearing hers but you don’t have to wear yours,” Winn said and he folded his arms now, probably trying to look imposing but Lena just lifted a brow at him. “It is important to her though… they were very traditional….” He trailed off and gave a little shrug.

Lena gave a slow nod and glanced back at the dress before letting out a slight sigh. It was beautiful.

“I’ll, ah, leave you to it,” he said through a yawn and started back to the door, kicking some of the boxes as he went and managed to stumble forward.

Lena made a move to grab him but there was a gust of air and a white blur and she recoiled.

“Easy there, Agent,” Supergirl said as she helped him back to his feet and sent him on his way and Lena took a moment to calm her racing heart and figured she was not successful but Supergirl didn’t comment on it when she finally turned to look at her.

“Hi, Miss,” Lena lifted a brow pointedly and Supergirl winced, “Lena.”

Inclining her head at the correction Lena let her eyes roam over the hero.

She wasn’t in her uniform, that was blindingly obvious. She was in her dress.

There was some part of her that was instantly alien, for all that she looked like a blonde supermodel, in her traditional robes. Supergirl seemed to fill them, to fit them perfectly, to fill the very room with her presence, that here she was. Supergirl.

Her hair fell in waves down her back and seemed to hold an ethereal glow, but not of moonlight, sunlight. She glowed with it, radiating beneath her dress and giving her a golden aura and casting a halo of gold on the sheer white fabric of her dress. The medieval style of the collar and the thigh guards as well as the thick fabric over her chest made her seem like some sort of herald of divinity. Beauty and grace bound by power and sheer presence.

The ‘S’ crest was proud and bold on her chest and she seemed strong and powerful and… foreign… as she stood by the door.  Lena wondered for a moment if this was what ancient peoples felt like when gazing upon the statues of their gods, something untouchable and unyielding. Knowing that their faith was there, right in front of them, a real and tangible thing, even if the subject of their devotion was out of reach.

“I-“ Supergirl hesitated and looked past Lena to glance at the dress and there was something fierce sparking in her eyes.

“I would like you to wear it but you don’t have to,” she said quickly, almost tripping over the words in her haste.

Lena blinked a little but gave a little nod. She had said she would go through with it, so go through with it she would, and she would do so properly.

She was rewarded with a dawning realisation on Supergirl’s face.

“Really?!” She asked excitedly and took a partial step towards Lena before correcting herself and stepping back, but she couldn’t stop the absolute joy on her face.

“Thank you!”

Lena gave a little nod and leant against the table next to her, resting her weight and watched as Supergirl’s eyes trailed over her form before she looked away.

“I-there’s something I have to tell you,” Supergirl said again and Lena’s heart tripped and she stiffened.

“Its not bad!” Supergirl yelped and took a half step forward, lifting her hands in a peaceful gesture. “I promise! Its just- I um, I want to tell you who I am?”

Lena blinked and a sharp inhale heralded her surprise. She was dumbfounded for a moment and was glad Supergirl appeared to be waiting for her to give her permission to tell her.

It was certainly a shock for a Super to be willing to tell a Luthor who she really was. Lena could do untold amounts of damage with that information, anyone could, but a Luthor more than most. Part of her wondered if Supergirl really wanted to tell her, or if she felt obliged to tell her because of the favour Lena was doing for her.

Kara.

Her heart gave a weak whisper and Lena closed her eyes briefly.

“No,” she said quietly and cleared her throat. “No, thank you.”

She opened her eyes to see Supergirl blinking at her in shock with a hand partially raised with index finger pointed skyward.

“You ,um, I, er what?”

Lena took a steadying breath. “We haven’t discussed what this… marriage… means to us both and I think we probably should.”

Supergirl lowered her hand, looking highly confused, but with her gaze on Lena.

“I agreed to this,” Lena waved her hand around the room, “Marriage in order to save your life. I know that we won’t know what will happen after, but I’m not doing this because I love you.”

Supergirl winced slightly at the blunt phrasing but Lena had her attention, so she continued, trying to find the right words to soften the blow while also getting her point across.

“I never thought I would marry for love, not after Lex,” she said and then quickly cut herself off. “After that I gave up on the idea,” something gleamed in Supergirl’s eyes and Lena continued on, she didn’t want pity. “This,” she gestured between the two of them, “is a business agreement. A political alliance, if you will,” she gave a little nod and tilted her head. “You, of all people, should understand that. From my reading I understand that all marriages on Krypton were political?”

Supergirl nodded slowly her gaze still on Lena, searching for something.

“Good,” Lena said and moistened her lips. “I don’t want to get involved with this. I don’t want to get to know you outside of this contract, not in a spousal way I cant- there is some one- I”

Lena bit her tongue hard enough until the sting of it brought her out of her ramble. Supergirl looked startled and her brow was furrowed but Lena shook her head, to rid herself of thoughts and of the lingering pain.

“I want this to work like a business deal,” Lena said on the tail end of a sigh. “I don’t know if I can handle knowing anything about you because I don’t _want_ to marry you.”

“I’m sorry,” she added suddenly, glancing up at Supergirl and feeling hot and cold all of a sudden, with a pressure in her chest.

There was a grimace on the hero’s features which faded to concern the longer Lena stared at her.

“O-kay,” Supergirl said slowly, almost sounding the word out for the unfamiliar and Lena was struck with the need to explain.

“No, wait. I didn’t mean it like that,” she hurried to explain and ran her hands through her hair and shook her head slightly. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

“You-this-,” she pointed between them and let her shoulders slump forward an incremental amount.

“This isn’t what I wanted,” she said softly, glancing up at Supergirl from under her lashes. She had to force herself to explain herself, ignoring how vulnerable it made her. She needed Supergirl to understand more than she needed to be strong. She knew she was repeating herself but she was trying to get the words out, trying to give shape to her feelings and let Supergirl understand.

“I wanted romance,” she partially rolled her eyes at herself and shook her head slightly. “Dinner. Dates. Cuddles on the couch. Picnic’s,” she added as an after thought as she considered it. “I wanted the whole…..” she trailed off and waved her hand in the air before flicking her hair back and carrying on. “All of it,” she said and Supergirl was nodding with soft understanding.

“I-“Lena hesitated and took a deep breath. “I never thought I’d marry someone who I didn’t love.”

Supergirl’s features twisted at an odd emotion and Lena struggled to place it before she was met with the hero’s blank stare.

“I’m going to marry you,” Lena said firmly, staring across at the hero and waiting until her blue eyes were caught and held by her own. “Its not what I imagined but I will do this. You mean more than my happiness,” Lena forced the words through the thickening air in her lungs. “So I will do this, and I will be… faithful?” Her voice rose in question at the thought and she frowned as she tried to work through the ideas it brought with it.

She didn’t know what the consequences of their marriage was going to be, only that whatever they were they had to be better than Supergirl dying, the world needed her. They needed her hope. Whatever other ills having a Super brought down on the city, she brought them that. She was their beacon of light and Lena wasn’t selfish enough to deprive them of it if she could.

“Or, at least, I don’t know, follow the bonding or whatever it is? I’m not-“ she hesitated, there was still apprehension, and a small amount of fear which she resolutely squashed. “I’d be willing to know you,” the words fell from her lips slowly and Supergirl straightened a little. “Later,” Lena swallowed, “but at the moment I cant think about it, about this,” she gestured between them, “ without hurting. And if I think about it too long,” she said and cleared the emotion from her throat, “I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough in time to save you.”

Supergirl was frowning and the crease to her brow was familiar in an aching way but Lena couldn’t place it.

“You’re marrying me even though you don’t want to so that I can live and inspire other people?”

Lena didn’t answer as she didn’t think it was a question, even though the hero’s voice lifted like it was one, and she tilted her head. And Lena had thought only Kara was capable of looking like a puppy, but Supergirl obviously had more to her than steel.

“Who is- you mentioned-“ Supergirl shifted on her feet and placed her hands on her hips before hesitating and then gripping one elbow, perhaps sensing the pose was too strong for the vulnerability Lena was showing. “Is there someone else?” She asked in a soft whisper, as though fearing the answer but also desperate to hear it. Lena idly wondered if that was what religious people sounded like, asking questions of their gods. Desperate for an answer, any sort of reply, but also terrified of it.

“No,” Lena nearly snorted, and relied on years of her mothers tutorage to keep the lie from her face, but knew that her heart rate would betray her as she had betrayed it. Its beat was powerful, steady and resolute, reminding her of a pendulum in a clock, ticking back and forth without any end in mind. It was as though it was telling her, and Supergirl, that yes, there was someone else. And that someone was called Kara. Ka-ra. Ka-ra. The whoomph of her heart remained steady even as it felt like breaking because to its mundane existence she was. She was binding herself to someone that wasn’t Kara, and that was a betrayal.

“No,” Lena repeated softly, seeing Supergirl frown in disbelief. “I- I care for someone,” she admitted, blaming the heroes bright eyes for being so candid, but maybe it was a Super thing? From Lex’s notes she was aware that the pheromones the Kryptonian’s excreted were appealing to every human they met, often making the hero more charismatic and friendly, and generally making everyone around them like them. It was a handy biological advancement and Lena felt her walls closing in around her at the thought. It wasn’t Supergirl’s fault she was biologically charismatic, but Lena didn’t like that she let her defences down around her subconsciously.

Lena glanced away a moment and when she returned Supergirl had straightened her shoulders and folded her arms, and was eyeing her with polite disinterest.

“But…” she shook her head once. She wasn’t about to discuss her infatuation with Kara with one of Kara’s friends. “When this feels less like a betrayal I’d like to get to know you, the _real_ you,” she emphasised. “Not the cape. But right now this is the best I can do.”

Blonde hair shimmered like gold against snow in the sunrise as Supergirl nodded slowly and Lena could see she was trying to bite her tongue and Lena was thankful. She wasn’t sure how much more prodding she could take.

“Okay,” Supergirl said and nodded slowly, but Lena could see the indecision in her eyes. “But- Lena,” she said and the way she said her name was…. Something that Lena needed to address at another stage. Take it apart and examine it when she wasn’t so stressed and ready to bolt _or_ take a bottle of her father’s whisky to bed and drink until she could see the bottom through her tears.

“When you are ready,” Supergirl said gently and she was soft now, vulnerable in a way that Lena hadn’t seen before. Warm and open. Human almost. “I want to show you who I am. All of me,” Supergirl said and lifted one shoulder in a shrug Lena could call sheepish if it weren’t for the intense way Supergirl was staring at her. “Okay? I want you to see me.”

Lena inclined her head after a long moment, feeling something pass in the air between them.

Supergirl’s responding smile was radiant and Lena had a brief flash of ‘this is what an angel looks like’ before the hero ducked back through the door. “I’ll let you get changed. Al-gent Danvers is getting cranky. See you soon!”

And then she was gone, the room empty and colder for her absence.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Thanks for the Beta TV! Mwah!
> 
> I appreciate your feedback :D <3
> 
>  
> 
> -I'll respond to comments on last chapter in a few days. I've been pretty busy and am heading out of town for a few days. Enjoy!


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